


It's Only Magic

by RivDeV



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Asphyxiation, Blood and Injury, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Healers, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Kidnapping, Kingdoms, Love, M/M, Mages, Magic, Magic-Users, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Restraints, Romance, Seers, Slow Romance, Soulmates, Telepathy? Of sorts, War, Witches, Yôkai, allusions to torture, no actual death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 09:36:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 38,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16830007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RivDeV/pseuds/RivDeV
Summary: Soulmates are the ONE thing Yuuri doesn't believe in. He's never actually met anyone who's had one. Not that he needs to see to believe. Alternate realities? Sure. Magic so powerful it breaks the laws of their world? Probably. Yokai and Spirits that exist on another plane of existence? Yup. But someone who's pre-destined to love you? No, that's going too far.But Yuuri finds it increasingly hard to deny his soulmate's existence when he wakes up in the darkest, worst situation imaginable and hears Victor’s voice in his head.





	1. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this for [Nefaria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nefar1a/pseuds/Nefar1a) for a Secret Santa fic exchange. Nefaria, you gave me so much to work with and I tried to fit in pretty much everything you liked (and I totally got carried away with it), so I’m hoping you’ll like this final product. It’s been so much fun to work outside my comfort zone. Since I did get so carried away, BOOK 1 is your Secret Santa gift. The rest will (hopefully) come after Christmas. 
> 
> (Please do keep an eye on the tags.)

BOOK 1: SEER:FATE 

* * *

It's like surfacing from a deep, dark lake. Except, when Yuuri finally starts to come to consciousness, it's still pitch black. There are small indiscernible flashes of light in his vision - his brain trying to make sense of what's around him despite no visual cues. His blood rushes hard and thick past his ears, making everything sound like static. He'd think he'd lost his senses if not for the stale, copper taste of blood in his mouth and the heavy cool metal around his ankles. The heavy pounding of his headache only intensifies the worst parts of what he's feeling. 

Alright. So. He's somewhere dark. And damp. (If the musty smell is anything to go by.) And he's… chained up? At least, that's his best guess as to what the weight dragging his legs down is.

He blinks, hoping to get a bit more information if his eyes adjust to the inky swirls around him. He lets out an involuntary rasping cough, tasting more blood. Fantastic.

He tries to think about what exactly happened. His memory is hazy and all that's coming to mind is muffled sounds and fuzzy colours. Figure out what happened later. Find out what's happening now. That's the most pressing issue. He takes a few deep breaths to calm himself, although it isn't really working. The more he realizes he doesn't know, the more he starts panicking.

He pushes up from the cold damp floor, hands scraping by stone and metal. Okay. Yes. Those are chains around his ankles that…. yes, if he follows them with his hands, are not only attached to each other, but also lead to an O-ring attached to the ground. Fantastic. (Not.)

He leans to the side, letting the wall next to him support his weight. _“Calm down, Yuuri. Calm down,”_ he tells himself. He counts himself through his breaths in and out. After his pulse has evened out and he's focussed on his breathing for long enough to clear most of the panic, he finally decides to face the issue: where in the Twelve Kingdoms is he?

He feels confident that he's calm enough to try the smallest bit of magic without it feeding off his insecurities. He tries not to think about how the magic could turn on him if he’s not composed. 

With a quick huff of air through his teeth, he gently dips into the magic he can always feel coursing past him and uses it to spark a tiny flame to life in the palm of his hand. It flickers bright ruby red, almost blinding because his eyes are accustomed to the unending black from before. The heat warms his chilled body but doesn't scorch his palm, so the magic must be happy with him today, or perhaps he's calmer than he first thought.

Unfortunately, the flame also illuminates his nearby surroundings. He was right about the chains. And he was right about the stone. He holds his hand out to shed light further. And that's all it is. Stone. As far as he can see. (Which isn’t very far, honestly.) Rough, chipped, stone. Not blocks, but not natural formation either. Rough-hewn stone, chiselled enough so it's flat enough to walk on, or to lay on, but not done with mastery.

The wall beside him is the same: rough and unyielding. More unnerving is the fact he can't see any other walls. Nothing to indicate how large a space he's in. If he concentrates, he can hear water drips from far away. So perhaps it's not a small prison cell like he'd first assumed. But then, why the chains?

His anxiety flares up, and so does the flame in his hand. He curls in on himself, cupping the flame with his other hand, whispering calming words to both the magic he's using and to himself. He can't panic now. If he panics, he can't use magic. And if he can't use magic, he can't get out of here. And he WILL get out of here.

He finds a divot in the floor and gently lays the small flame inside, coaxing it with more magic and some kind words to make it content enough to flicker happily outside of his palm.

Yuuri waits, staring into the red flame, trying his best to think of anything but his situation, until his eyes protest. At least the front of him is warm, even if his back is chilled. He'd make another flame if he could, but he doesn't think his mind is settled enough to do it safely.

Tentatively, while whispering calming words to himself, he reaches down his leg slowly towards the chains. He trembles when his fingers touch the metal cuffs around his ankles, but he doesn't panic. He dips back into the flow of magic, trying to heat the metal. If he can free himself, he’s one step closer to getting out of here. Except the cuffs don’t heat.

He knows he’s doing it right. It’s simple magic: something he learned as a child. Besides, he was able to produce a flame not moments ago. But while his palms are feeling glowing-hot, the metal cuffs seem to rebuke him, staying as cold and heavy as ever.

Magic-resistant.

Yuuri swallows heavily, panic rising in a quick and unrelenting wave. It feels like he can’t breathe. He wonders if maybe he’s used up all the oxygen. The flame he’s set to the side flickers ominously, threatening to plunge him back into darkness. His bottom lip trembles as he draws in one wheezing breathe after another. Don’t panic. (DON’T PANIC.)

Magic-resistant objects are few and far between. There are cuffs like these in royal dungeons for the truly terrible magic-users that need to be kept away from the world. But Yuuri? He’s just a simple Mage. A late-blooming one, too. It took him ages to get past his apprenticeship. He doesn’t have a strong enough hold over magic to be considered a threat worthy of magical restraints.

Besides, _what has he done to deserve this?_

He can’t even remember what lead him to this point. It’s still all so hazy. The last thing he remembers is Phichit- _Phichit!_ Oh shit. Oh shit. Shit. His panic becomes more oppressive.

“Phichit?” He calls out into the darkness. And then immediately regrets it because while he desperately hopes that his best friend is somewhere out there and can help him, he still doesn’t know where he is and who else might be listening.

There’s a low rumble in response.

It comes from much farther away. It’s rumble that isn’t really a sound, but rather the magic around him rippling and twisting in an unfamiliar way - affected by whatever’s out there in such a visceral way that it’s moving, unbidden, in reaction. Almost like the magic is panicking just like Yuuri.

He clamps a hand over his mouth to stifle the terrified sob that’s creeping up his throat. Tears gather at the corner of his eyes and his heart is thundering so loudly in his chest that he’s sure that even if whatever’s out there doesn’t already know where he is, the blood pumping through his body will give him away.

He doesn’t know what to do. _“Help me,”_ he pleads in his head. His prayers have never been answered by any of the Spirits before, but if there were a time to be taken pity upon, now would be it.

_“Wha-”_ a whisper flows across him. It feels like an autumn breeze: crisp and cool, but it definitely sounds like a voice.

He freezes, turning slowly around. (Is something there? Something’s there, isn’t it? It’s come to eat him.) All he can really think is that all those years he spent learning magic will be wasted. He’ll never amount to anything more than a tasty snack.

_“I’m going to die,”_ he thinks. He knows he’s done this to himself. It’s because he’s so weak that he’s fallen into this inescapable situation. And he’s sure that whatever’s out there in the darkness is going to kill him.

_“Who are-”_ The whisper flows in and out, like it’s rushing past him, never quite reaching, and he can barely pick up on the words. _“-are you- I’m- don’t-”_

Yuuri folds in on himself, face buried in his knees. He doesn’t want to see what’s coming for him. If he’s going to die, he’d rather it be quick. He sits there quivering, the chill of the floor seeping deep into his bones. The magical growl has him so terrified of the swirling magic around him that he doesn’t dare dip into it to make another flame. And even if he doesn’t want to go back to complete darkness, he has a fleeting thought that he should extinguish the flame beside him so it isn’t even drawing that slight bit of magic to feed itself.

He loves magic, but sometimes he thinks that it might be better to cut himself off from it entirely.

_“Are- there?”_ The whisper slides past him again. He presses his hands over his ears, hoping that it might block out the voice. If it’s a Yokai trying to ensnare him, it’s better he doesn’t listen.

_“Please don’t let me die,”_ he thinks desperately. He doesn’t even dare use magic to try to protect himself. He’s too panicked to use it properly, and whatever was out there disturbing the magic in such a large way, he knows he isn’t strong enough to beat.

This is what it’s come down to. The same anxiety that held him back for years from making the transition from apprentice to Mage is going to hold him back from fighting for his life. It’s always been his greatest foible.

_"-Calm-"_ The whisper comes again. And despite Yuuri's hands covering his ears, it hasn't muffled the voice at all. It makes him the opposite of calm. He knows he's crying. Even if he wants to be quiet, his body is betraying him. He can only do so much to stifle his sobs into the fabric of his pants.

_"I'm sorry,"_ he thinks. _"Mom, Dad, Mari, Phichit. I'm sorry."_ He's tried so hard to become someone they can be proud of - someone _he_ can be proud of. But in his most desperate hour, he still can't find the courage.

_“Who?”_ The shadows whisper to him.

He doesn't answer out loud, but tells himself, _"I'm Yuuri Katsuki, and I'm going to die alone."_

_"Yuuri."_ The voice becomes more than a whisper. It seems to coalesce with his name.

He knows he didn't speak out loud. Maybe the Yokai (is that what's out there?) can read minds. If that's the case, then he really doesn't stand a chance.

_"Yuuri, please calm down,"_ the voice comes across fairly clearly. The tone is warm and steady. He wonders why something that wants to eat him would want him to calm down?

_"I can't,"_ he thinks.

_"You can,"_ the voice tells him, still with a low, firm tone. _"Just listen to my voice. Breathe."_

It sounds so sincere. Yuuri's sure he can't trust the voice. (Why would anyone want to help him?) But what other choice does he have? He takes two trembling inhales.

_"Yuuri,"_ It says again, a warm inflection on the vowels. _"I'm here for you."_

The honeyed voice smoothes over the worst of his panic. Whatever is speaking to him sounds sincerely like it wants to help. And right now, he'll take it. Anything that might help him out of this situation, any support he can get, he'll gladly take it, even if it means his eventual demise. Nothing can be worse than feeling like this - like his heart is constricting so tightly it'll kill him.

_"Yuuri? Can you hear me?"_ The voice asks.

_"Yes,"_ he thinks tentatively, still hesitant about saying anything out loud, especially if he's unsure whether the voice and the faceless fear in the darkness are the same.

_"Good, good,"_ the placidity the voice is projecting goes a long way to drag him towards the same feeling. _"Can you tell me anything about where you are? What's happening?"_

He slowly lifts his face up from his knees, eyes still squeezed shut. There's a red glow through his eyelids from the flame beside him. Surprisingly it hasn't gone out during his panic attack.

_"Dark,"_ he thinks.

_"Dark."_ The voice muses. _"If I were there I could-, but no."_

_"Alone,"_ the thinks as well.

_"You're not alone. I'm here. I'll be here for as long as you need me,"_ the voice says. He doesn't know how that's possible. Yuuri still doesn't know if that's something he wants. But the voice is calming, so he doesn't want it to leave just yet.

With as much confidence as he can muster, he slowly opens his eyes.

It's the same as before. The rough stone is all around him. He's still chained. And his small flame is flickering slowly beside him, illuminating only the small area around him, with blackness stretching beyond.

_"I don't know where I am,"_ he thinks.

_"Can you describe it?"_ The voice asks. It doesn't sound like it's coming from far away. In fact, it sounds like they're right next to him.

_"Dark. A cave, probably. Or a dungeon. I don't know,"_ he tries to tell the voice.

_"Okay,"_ the voice soothes again, probably because his panic is evident even in the tone of his thoughts.

_"I made a small fire, but I can't see anything but rock."_

_"You made a fire?"_ The voice sounds intrigued, a little excited even. _"With your hands, or magic?"_

_"Magic,"_ Yuuri confirms. _"I'm a Mage."_ He doesn’t tack on a ‘sorry excuse for one’, even though he feels he should.

_"Wonderful,"_ the voice is a little breathy. _"I can work with that. Yuuri, do you know how to make light? Not fire, but light."_

_"Yes,_ " he thinks, _"But I made the fire instead because it's cold and wet."_ It also helps Mage’s are aligned with fire - it’s the easiest of the elements for them to manipulate.

_"Okay. Do you think you could make light as well as the flame?"_

Yuuri hesitates. He's a Mage - he should easily be able to do multiple pieces of magic at the same time. But he's still shaken. _"I don't know if the magic will follow my will,"_ he admits. He wonders if the voice knows magic too.

_"Well, if you're a Mage, it should be easy, right? It shouldn't be difficult to produce fire and light at the same time. They're related, so it won't be much different than pulling the magic to make fire, and we already know you can do that."_

Yuuri uncurls a little more. His eyes flick over to the flame, then out into the darkness. Does he really want to know what's out there, though? Does he really want to know how terrible a situation he's in? What if he disturbs whatever's out there?

_"I don't know if it's safe,"_ Yuuri thinks instead of saying that he still doesn't trust himself enough to try more than the simplest of magic.

_"Is there anyone there with you?"_ The voice asks. Apparently, it doesn't have any knowledge of Yuuri or where he is. So maybe they're not here with him. Or maybe it's just playing tricks. He tries to ignore the part of him that thinks it still might be a Yokai playing with its food.

_"I don't know,"_ Yuuri answers honestly. _"I think there's something.... big. Powerful. Out there somewhere."_

He can almost hear the deep inhale the voice takes. (Does a disembodied voice need air? Are they a Spirit? Are they even on this plane of existence?) _"Alright. So maybe nothing flashy. Just in case. Any other immediate dangers?"_

_"No,"_ Yuuri thinks. Because, although he doesn't know where he is, while he's chained up and his head is still feeling fuzzy, something lurking in the dark waiting to eat him is a much more pressing matter.

_“That’s good,”_ the voice actually sounds relieved. _“Can you… is there anything you can tell me about where you might be, or why you might be there?”_ The tentativeness in the voice that’s been so strong and calm almost makes Yuuri think that whoever it is might be worried about the answer.

_“No,”_ he answers truthfully. _“I don’t remember anything. It’s all fuzzy. Last thing I remember was…”_ he pauses, thinking back. It’s still hazy, and thinking about it makes his head throb.

He does remember Phichit, though. He remembers the peat smell of forest floor, the gentle psithurism as the backdrop for melodic bird songs, the all-consuming serenity of being quiet in nature. He remembers Phichit next to him, searching through the underbrush for a specific mushroom he needed for a new potion he’s been wanting to try. And then. Nothing.

The voice is, thankfully, quiet as he tries to pull at the threads of his memory.

_“...Sorry,”_ he thinks. He just can’t remember anything. _“I remember being in the forest, and that’s about it. Nothing to suggest where I am or why I’m here. I don’t… I don’t think I’ve done anything to deserve this.”_

_“It’s okay,”_ The voice is quiet, then seemingly perks up, _“whatever happened, let’s make sure you’re safe, and then you can worry about the past.”_

_“Are you a Yokai? Or a Spirit?”_ Yuuri asks without really thinking. He really wants to know what’s talking to him - trying to help him out. It’s unusual for a stranger to be so kind.

_“What? No. I’m Victor.”_

Yuuri sputters a little. _“Victor?”_ he thinks.

_“Oh, maybe you didn’t hear my name earlier. I’m Victor. I’m a Mage like you, Yuuri.”_ The voice is even clearer now, as if sharing their names has solidified the connection between them.

Mage Victor. He immediately thinks of _him._ The silver-haired man he’s admired for nigh on a decade. The one person that swayed him enough he decided to become a Mage instead of a Witch. But no. It can’t be. There are plenty of Mages in the Twelve Kingdoms, and a few of them must be named Victor. There’s no chance that it would be the same one he’s been pining after - that he’s been working up the courage (and magic) to meet in person - the only other Mage he’d be happy to learn from.

Still. He wonders what other Mage might be powerful enough to talk with him like this. And why. He’s still wary of this stranger, but they seem genuinely interested in helping him. And the name relaxes him more than he’d expect.

_“Are you hurt anywhere?”_ Victor asks him.

Yuuri uncurls a little more, moving so his back is to the stone wall - a way of protecting himself just a little. The flame beside him flickers happily now, as if pleased by the way the magic is moving around him. He does a quick mental check of his body. His body aches. His joints are stiff, probably from both the cold and from how tense his panic attack made him. He can still taste the small amount of blood in his mouth, but he thinks it may just be because of a split lip. He’s hungry. But that’s secondary to his headache.

He reaches up and feels at the back of his head where the pain is localized. Oh. A bump. Maybe even a laceration, if the stickiness he can feel back there is blood. No wonder he’s feeling so foggy. If he was hit hard enough, it’s no surprise he doesn’t remember how he got here. A concussion could be bad for his magic. Maybe that’s why everything feels so dull and muted. It does seem to be harder for him to reach out to the magic around him, despite how clearly he can remember his incantations.

Maybe the bump on his head has allowed him this new, strange, form of communication.

_“Sore,”_ he finally answers Victor, knowing they’re waiting for his answer. _“And a headache. Maybe a concussion. Not entirely sure. But no broken bones.”_

Victor makes a humming noise. _“I’m a good Mage, but my experience with healing is sorely lacking, I’m afraid. I'll look into it - see if I can't find anything that you might be able to use."_

If Phichit were here, he'd be able to heal Yuuri without a problem. Phichit's the more useful out of the two of them.

Victor doesn't seem to be privy to his musings, as he keeps talking, so Yuuri at least figures there’s a barrier between his rolling, anxiety-inducing thoughts and the man (Yuuri knows he's assuming, but the name and lower vocal register suggest it) who's helping him. _"Are you able to stand?"_

_"I guess,"_ Yuuri responds, but makes no move to get to his feet.

_"Do you think you could walk around a bit? Maybe see a bit more of where you are? The more I know, the better I can help you,"_ Victor says, although he now sounds a little distracted.

_"No,"_ Yuuri shakes his head, looking down towards the cuffs on his ankles.

_"No?"_ Victor questions. _"Are you too dizzy?"_

_"Yes. No. I mean-"_ Yuuri cuts himself off. _"I just can't,"_ he says. He doesn't need to broadcast that he's completely immobilized.

_"Yuuri,"_ Victor sounds a little frustrated, _"I'm trying to help you, but you need to help me. I understand less of what's happening than you do."_

He wants to ask 'why?', why are they helping him? But he's too scared of the answer. _"I'm chained to the floor,"_ he responds instead.

_"Oh! Well, that's easy to fix!"_ Victor sounds excited. _"I'm assuming it's not with rope because your flame would have made short work of that, so, if it's metal, the spell for that would be-"_

_"I already tried,"_ Yuuri cuts him off. _"They're magic-resistant. I'm not getting out of them."_ He cuts back on the 'I already said I was going to die here' quip he has ready. There's no reason to make the only person (thing?) willing and able to help him pissed off.

_“Magic-resistant cuffs?”_ Victor sounds impressed.

There's a thick silence for a few moments, and Yuuri almost worries that Victor has disappeared. Even if he's unable to help Yuuri, it was still nice to have a little companionship.

_"Okay,"_ Victor's voice comes again, sounding a little breathless. _"I- I think I might know something for that, actually. How long did you say you've been there for?"_

_"Dunno. I woke up not that long ago."_

_"So, recently. Not.... days? Months? Years, even?"_ Victor asks.

_"No. I don't think it's been that long."_

_"Wow,"_ Victor says in a whoosh of air. _“Yuuri, you only keep surprising me.”_

It sounds like a compliment. But is it? Yuuri doesn’t feel like he’s anything to be surprised about. Maybe Victor is surprised at how useless he is.

_"Well, let's not waste time,"_ Victor seems to compose himself. _"Can you try a little bit of magic?"_

Yuuri thinks about what might be out there in the dark, but at this point, with his flame still beside him, if nothing's attacked him yet, then maybe he isn't a target. It's not like a Yokai would have the need for magical-restraints. _"Okay,"_ he agrees finally.

_"I know a spell specifically for dark caves, actually,"_ Victor blusters on, _"if you can use it, then I think you'll get a pretty good look around. And in the meantime, I'll see if I can't figure out something that might work for your head."_

_“I don’t have my glasses,”_ Yuuri thinks before he can stop himself.

_“Glasses?”_ Victor asks, startled.

_“My eyesight isn’t the best. But it’s okay! I can still see. Just some of the further things are fuzzy. I can manage without.”_

_“Do you need them right now? Because-”_

_“No, no, it’s fine,”_ Yuuri thinks, blushing. There wasn’t really any reason to tell Victor about his eyesight. It will be good enough for a cave, he’s sure. He needs to think before… thinking. He ignores the thought that Phichit would be able to offer a temporary spell to ease the strain on his eyesight.

Yuuri waits patiently for Victor to tell him the spell he needs. He could, of course, try a simple lighting spell. But it won't reach far.

_"Oh!"_ Victor's voice perks up again. _"Right, I forgot to tell you the spell."_ The word for the spell comes, but it's not in Victor's voice. It's that weird pronunciation that sits strangely on the tongue: sounds a human probably shouldn't be able to produce, but magic makes possible. Yuuri's never heard the spell before, but after all the studying he's done, he understands the basics of it, how it was formed, and what its purpose probably is. It's an ingenious bit of spellwork, to be honest. He wonders if it's something from a book he's never read, or maybe something Victor's produced himself. Memorizing spellwork is one thing, but producing it? That's Sorcerer-level. He tries not to think of who Victor might be.

He closes his eyes briefly, feeling the magic swirling around him again. It's calm - like the slow-flowing river he's used to. Whatever disturbed it before isn't doing it now. As he forms the spell Victor's given him, the magic rushes up to greet him. It moves without resistance, bound to the form and shape that Yuuri's asking of it. The spell is flawless. It's easy. And more importantly, the magic seems happy to bend to the spell’s whim. A spell this beautiful should be something every Mage knows.

As the last syllable flows from Yuuri's lips, his eyes open to see the final product.

There's a large ball of light sitting in his palms. Bigger and brighter than any light magic he'd been thinking of casting. It's a silver-white light that's hard to look at.

He's not even thinking about his previous fears of what might be out in the dark; he's too caught up in the beauty of the spell. The magic around him happily feeds the light, flowing in and through it without a care. It's soft and warm, much like Victor's voice.

He gently releases it from his palm, gently pushing it upwards. He doesn't even need to whisper placating words to it, or ask it to follow where he wants it to go - it just knows what he wants it to do. It floats gently upwards and out from him.

He watches it with squinted eyes. It lifts up almost 30 feet, and then he can see where it hits the stalactite of the ceiling. So. He's in a cave. That's already more information than he previously had.

But the light doesn't stop there. It floats away from him, bouncing against the rough cave ceiling. And then, when it's quite a ways away, it seems to burst. It gives off a blinding white light that Yuuri has to throw his arm up to shade his eyes against. And then it splits into hundreds of white lights, spreading outwards from the original orb.

When Yuuri's eyes finally adjust from the brief flash, he can see the final form of the spell. Hundreds of dancing lights spread throughout the space - hovering at irregular intervals, almost like fireflies dancing in the night, but the light produced is so much more than that.

Soft light fills the space, giving him a clear view of where he is. It's more than just a cave - that's clear now. All his worries about his predicament fade away in replacement of awe. It's gorgeous. The cave is huge - it stretches farther than the lights have spread. The stalactites hanging from the ceiling are long and impressive and reach down towards the most spectacular lake.

It's almost as if Yuuri's sitting on a man-made shore - the edge of the water is just over an arm's reach away. It's perfectly still, almost like glass, reflecting the dancing lights and formations above it and making the cavern seem infinitely larger than it is. Almost like Yuuri is adrift in space among stars.

One of the lights comes close to him, slowly meandering in a path only it knows. He lightly touches it - sending it on its way back out towards the others.

_"Wow,"_ he thinks. He doesn't feel like he has the words to describe what he's seeing.

_"What is it, Yuuri?"_ Victor's voice is still there, smooth as it has been.

_"I'm in a cave,"_ Yuuri tells him. _"A big one. With an underground lake."_

_"Really?"_ Victor sounds as surprised as Yuuri is.

_"I thought I might be in a dungeon, or something similar,"_ Yuuri admits to him, _"because I'm sitting on rock I'm sure was smoothed by human hands. But it seems like this is the only part that's been reformed."_ Around him are bigger formations, both rolling and jagged rocks. Some stalagmites further down are large and reach up towards their partners, looking as if they're made from melted candle wax. To his left it seems like a small path emerges. It's barely discernible from the rest of the cave rock, but it's smoother, worn down where the rest of the rocks are untouched. It looks different from its neighbouring limestone.

_"Can you see anything else?_ " Victor prompts him after a few moments of Yuuri's silence.

_"Maybe a path?"_ Not that he's able to use it, but at least it suggests there's a way out of here.

_"Anyone? Anything?"_ Victor tries to clarify.

Yuuri finally remembers his original worry - that something dark and powerful was in here with him, but when he turns out towards the lake, even with all the lights dancing around, he can't see anything moving in the dark. More to the point, nothing's attacked him. So maybe he imagined the way the magic twisted? No. He's always been very attuned to the streams and vines of magic flowing past him. Even in a state of panic he doubts he would have hallucinated the strange way the magic twisted.

At least he doesn't seem to be in immediate danger. _"No. I think I'm alone in here,"_ Yuuri tells Victor.

_"You're not alone, you still have me,"_ Victor responds, but he sounds relieved.

_"Thank you,"_ Yuuri thinks. Having support, even if it's someone unknown and unseen to him, is more than he could have hoped for in this situation. And it means even more to him that Victor's given him this useful lighting spell.

_"It's my pleasure, Yuuri,"_ his voice rumbles.

Yuuri's not a very tactile person, but at this moment, he wishes that Victor could be there beside him, physically, so he at least would have something to hold onto.

_"Was that spell easy for you? Or difficult?"_ Victor asks him.

_"Easy,"_ Yuuri admits. Easier than a lot of spells he knows. Despite being a new spell for him it still felt warm and familiar. And the magic seemed to like it as well. Or maybe it liked the way Yuuri felt about it.

_"Wonderful,"_ Victor replies. _"Do you think you could try another one?"_

_"Another light spell?"_ Yuuri questions. There's enough light for now. What he needs is a way to get out of these cuffs.

_"No. It's a fire spell. It'll work on the flame you already made. It's still around, right?"_

_"Yes,"_ Yuuri's eyes go to the small fire that's still flickering away in a groove on the floor. It looks small and weak compared to all the glittering lights around him.

_"Good. This should be just as easy. It's another one of mine. A favourite, even."_ Victor gives him the spell again. The sounds flowing smoothly across whatever communication it is they have.

Yet again, Yuuri immediately understands how it's been constructed and how it will force magic to bend to his will. It's elegant in its simplicity.

He carefully scoops up the flame beside him back into his palm, nursing it with calming words again as it flickers when he moves it too fast as if it were as weak as the flame on a match-head.

He gives it Victor's spell, whispering the incantation that was recited to him. The flame immediately changes to a deep blue with a hot white at its center. It looks as if it could be ice-cold, but it's hotter than before. Hotter than any flame he's produced previously. It seems to require even less of his attention, happy to dance in his palm and provide an excess of heat to him and the damp rocks around him.

_"That's a really nice spell, Victor,"_ he compliments. _"It's so warm even when it looks so cold."_

_"Good. You must have done it perfectly then, Yuuri."_ Victor praises him, even though he can't see the product of Yuuri's spellwork.

Yuuri tries not to flush with the praise, so he busies himself with setting the new flame down in the same groove on the floor. It's taking the chill off his skin easily and he readily appreciates the help Victor's given him so far.

_"Is there anything else you need right now?"_ Victor asks, voice soft.

_"I don't think so,"_ Yuuri answers. Nothing that Victor can give him, at least.

It's quiet for a bit, and Yuuri's left wondering how and when their communication might be cut off. He'd rather not be alone right now, not when just Victor's voice alone has done wonders to keep him from stressing.

He wants to start working on a plan on how to get out of here, but with the magical-restraints, the only workaround he's been able to come up with is amputating both his feet. And, as he's already so helpfully noticed, he's not good enough at healing magic to be able to survive that. At least, not enough he'd be able to get out of the cave.

He can feel his anxiety bubbling up again, so, hoping that Victor's still there, he reaches out with his thoughts again. _"Victor?"_

_"Hmm?"_ Is the reply.

_"Do you... could you tell me a little about yourself?"_ Yuuri asks. If he's focussing on Victor's voice, then it's less likely he'll get caught in an anxiety-inducing loop of thoughts.

_"Oh!"_ Victor jumps right in without hesitation. _"When I was five, there was this tree that I really wanted to climb, but at the time I was too short to reach the first branch, which, of course, isn't a problem now, but back then it seemed like the biggest obstacle. So, naturally, I devised a plan. Oh, I should mention, that at that age, although I was terrible at magic, as any five-year-old should be, I still had some degree of control over it. Although, my first lover, which I had at age sixteen, would say that I was too controlled, but that shouldn't matter to you because of course, I have just the right amount of control now. Completely controlled, of course. It's not like I just let magic control me. But I am more free when making new spells. There's a kind of uncontrolled action about that, isn't there? But speaking of uncontrolled, Georgi, now there's someone that is far too free with what he gives away. He loves like there is no tomorrow. He finds it much easier than everyone else, I think. But that's a little romantic too, isn't it? Not that Georgi can read the signs of romance well. I suppose you don't know him, though. So it's more like.... did you ever read that child's book? The one about the cat that..."_

As Victor rambles on, never quite reaching a point, or finishing any of his thoughts, Yuuri finds his mind whirling slowly trying to follow him. But it doesn't last long. Although he's only been awake for a short while, a lot has happened, and he feels drained. The lump on the back of his head probably isn't helping any either. So, it's no wonder that he's overcome by lassitude and slowly drifts off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Yokai' is a Japanese term that roughly translates to ‘demon’, except it doesn’t have the same negative connotations the English version has. I chose to use the Japanese word specifically because in this world, Yokai can eventually become Spirits (that look after humans). So while some Yokai may be evil and want destruction, there is also capability for good in them. 
> 
> I promise you’ll actually get some of Victor’s POV at some point, I just need to deal with poor Yuuri right now. Plot next chapter, I promise! 
> 
> I honestly have no idea what I’m doing with this. It just kind of started from a ‘what if the only way you could find your soulmate was connecting to them when they’re in extreme trouble’. I usually don’t write about magic worlds unless I’ve done some extensive worldbuilding, but I didn’t have that luxury here, so I’m flying by the seat of my pants with this one. I really hope you’ll like it! Please let me know if you’d be excited to read more (or have any burning questions). (And as always, you can follow me on [tumblr](http://contentwhatcontent.tumblr.com) for updates.) 
> 
> (Let me just say, I was having a terrible time naming this. I almost went with a pun: Mage Before Beauty.) 


	2. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm excited to get you another chapter of this so quickly! I really hope you'll enjoy where this is going.
> 
> With a story like this, we need antagonists. Unfortunately, I’m a little limited in the characters I can draw from from YoI. For Yuuri’s ‘foes’, I just want to mention that I had to choose someone(s), and it’s nothing against the personality of these characters. I love them all so much, and they’re all lovely people in the anime. I just want you to keep in mind that not everything is always as it seems: motivations make or break a person. So please wait to see how the story progresses before you decide to hate my decisions. 
> 
> (Yet again, please make sure to check the tags for any squicks.)

When he wakes, everything is quiet. Victor's voice is no longer soft and rumbling in his head.

He doesn't know how long it's been since he passed out, but he doesn't feel very rested, and he doesn't think he had any dreams, which probably isn't a good sign. He still feels quite weak and drained.

The only reason he's sure that Victor's voice wasn't his own fevered dream is because the blue flame is still sending up sapphire sparks besides him, keeping one half of him toasty hot (his knee on the side that's farthest from the flame aches with chill), and the light spell he cast earlier is still floating around the cave. The little lights having started to group together into larger masses, but they’re still providing adequate illumination.

He swallows hard, mouth parched. "Victor?" He calls out in a hoarse voice.

There's no answer.

_"Victor?"_ He tries again, this time just in his mind, trying to replicate the way he'd done it before. But still, nothing.

He lets out a shaky huff of air. Well, it was nice while it lasted. He just wishes he'd been able to stay awake long enough that Victor might have imparted more spells on him. Spells that might have helped him out of this.

He leans back against the wall, wincing as the swollen back of his head touches the cool limestone. He's still dizzy. He wonders if he's feeling so weak because of his head wound or if it's something else.

It's only because he's sitting still and listening to the sounds of the cave around him that he gets any warning. There are echoing voices coming from the left - the same way as the path.

He leans forward so fast that his head spins, his heart is beating out an irregular tattoo against his ribcage. The voices can mean one of two things: either they're here to rescue him, or they're his captors. The probability is, considering the hidden nature of this cave, it will be the latter option. He's not lucky enough for it to be the first.

With the magical cuffs, he knows he won't be able to fight back, but there's no reason for them to know that he's been able to produce enough magic to keep comfortable. So, with that in mind and without hesitation, he cuts off the flow of magic around him. The hovering lights disappear in a blink and so does the blue flame. He mourns its loss, not only for the warmth it gave, but also its connection to Victor.

He wonders if by cutting off his magic he's also cut off the connection to Victor as well. But it doesn't matter - he hadn't responded. No use lamenting over something he wasn't sure was there anyway.

One side of him is still hot from the fire, so he slides down onto the floor, pressing as much of himself as he can against the cold, damp floor to take away any evidence of his magic.

He'd like to keep an eye on the path to watch for who's coming, but now that the lights and flame are gone, he's back to being in total darkness and his eyes still haven't adjusted to it fully; not that he thinks there's any residual light this deep in the cave that he'd be able to see.

No more than two minutes later he can see something flickering at the edge of his peripheral vision. At first he thinks it might be just phosphenes from his eyes straining in the dark, but it slowly becomes clear it's more than his brain trying to make sense of the pitch black around him. It's a light. Not unlike the magic ones he produced earlier. Except this one is more like the light he's used to producing before Victor taught him the spell: singular and glowing just enough to see a few meters in any one direction. The voices are getting closer too.

As the light approaches, around the silhouettes of the stalagmites, he's finally able to see that it's being held by two people. He can't see any distinguishing features, not because they're too far away, but because they're both fully cloaked in black robes. Although the hooded figures had been talking earlier, they're silent as they approach him.

"You're awake," the shorter one says. They sound young. Not like a child, per se, but their voice is light and soft.

The taller figure moves forward, leaning in towards Yuuri. He tenses, ready to spring forward at a moment's notice. He may be chained to the floor, but his hands are free to fight.

"It's better if you don't resist," the taller figure says as he leans in. He presses a large, firm hand on Yuuri's calf, stopping him from kicking out.

A key flickers in the light of the magic orb the shorter one is holding. It takes barely a second to unlock the part that's holding his chains to the ground, and then it's back inside the person's robes.

"Up." It's said so forcefully that Yuuri obeys instinctively. He stands on shaky legs and immediately the taller one (that he soon realizes isn’t actually that tall since he’s shorter than Yuuri) has a hand on the back of Yuuri's neck. Their grip is so strong that Yuuri's vision swims. He immediately knows that whatever magic he can conjure will be nothing compared to the brute force this person has. He's keenly aware that they probably have the power to snap his neck if he makes a wrong move.

"Follow me," the shorter one says, voice still soft. He turns and heads back the way they came. The hand on the back of his neck presses him forward and he follows with stumbling steps, chains connecting his ankles making the most horrific dragging sound on the rocks under his feet. The sound of oppressive metal on rock echoes in the cavern, but neither of his captors seem affected by the shiver-inducing noise.

It takes a lot of Yuuri's effort to walk. He's careful to observe the path they take, however, just in case he does get the opportunity to free himself. It seems simple enough - the path is fairly obvious, and there doesn't seem to be many places that he could get lost.

The lack of subtlety means that he's probably never meant to escape the place where he's been chained up. It's not a thought that comforts him.

He desperately wishes that he still had Victor speaking in his head in that calm, soothing tone. He could use some support right now.

But, surprisingly, he's actually decently calm. He's already made the decision - he isn't going to die easily. He's going to work through this as best he can - try to escape in any way possible, whether that means he has to break free himself from chains, or whether he has to talk his captors into doing it themselves. But he's made the decision to not just die lying down and at least that firm resolve is enough to keep his anxiety at bay.

"What do you want?" He croaks out, stumbling on an uneven part of the path.

"Keep quiet," the man behind him drawls, tightening his fingers in warning. Yuuri stays silent.

After about twenty minutes of walking (with a definite uphill slant and a few tighter squeezes to get through narrower parts of the path), they finally stop in another larger cavern. This must be an antechamber, however, because even with the small light in front of him, Yuuri can distinguish the rock formations around him. There's suffuse light coming in from parts of the ceiling and from what looks like something that might be an exit much farther down the chamber. It's much more confined and much less grand than the room he was in and the mineral formations are both smaller and a duller colour, as if by being exposed to the outside air they've lost some of their magical appearance.

He's unceremoniously dragged by his neck to an old, battered chair that's in the middle of the gravel-filled room. His wrists are dragged harshly behind his back and then lashed together with rope. He doesn't struggle when the chains on his ankles are locked into another O-ring on the ground.

The shorter of his captors takes a seat on an exposed boulder in front of him. Yuuri imagines he can't be much more comfortable than Yuuri is right now. The strong, tall one comes to his partner's side, but stands just behind him. He's obviously here for the muscle. Maybe he's protecting his partner.

All three of them are silent for a few minutes. Yuuri still can't see their faces - the hoods and darkness are covering any distinguishing features. They’ve situated their light orb behind them so their faces are kept in constant silhouette. He wonders if he's allowed to speak now, or if he's just expected to sit here in silence with them until they're ready to explain what's going on. He decides that stillness is probably the least threatening thing he could do.

"Should I just get right into it, then?" The smaller one finally asks after what seems like an age.

"Please," Yuuri says with false bravado.

"You should give him some water first, Guang-Hong" the tall one says quietly, but Yuuri still hears him. "He won't be able to talk for long the way he is now."

"I suppose," the seated one mutters and the tall one moves away.

Yuuri stares at him. Guang-Hong. Okay. He's surprised they're okay with him knowing their names. Well. He's not an idiot. It probably means that once he's done talking, they'll kill him. Doesn't matter if he knows their names then.

At least now he partly knows what he's here for. To talk. And if giving away everything he knows means they'll kill him, then he'll just have to keep quiet. He's good at that. He's not a very sociable person, even if Phichit tells him he won't shut up if he's drunk. It's just a matter of how far these two are willing to go to get him to talk. Considering they've kept him chained up in a cave-prison, he's not underestimating their lack of compunction.

He patiently waits for the taller one to come back with an earthenware cup full of water. It's pressed to his lips more kindly than he expected, and he greedily drinks all of it. He's allowed one more cup of water before the tall one takes his place behind and to the right of Guang-Hong like a sentinel.

He already feels so much better now that his mouth is no longer dry. "What do you want?" Yuuri finally asks when it doesn't seem like either of them are going to start up the conversation again.

"I want you to answer a few questions," Guang-Hong says in a soft voice. Yuuri's still astonished by how young and innocent he sounds. He doesn't seem like the type that would be kidnapping people.

"And why would I answer anything you ask?" Yuuri retorts. "Will you let me go if I do?"

"Because," the tall one says, voice firm where Guang-Hong's was soft, "not answering comes at a great personal cost." There's a flash of silver at his hip as he draws his cloak aside to show the hilt of a sword.

"You'll kill me if I answer, and kill me if I don't answer, is that it?" Yuuri sasses back. He knows he shouldn't antagonise them, but he's hardly going to just let them bully him around. He wants to make it out of here. He wants to see Phichit again. His family. Victor. Wait. Victor? He snaps his mouth shut at that thought, teeth clicking together.

"We don't have plans to kill you," Guang-Hong says, turning slightly to give his partner a look. "Not unless we can't help it."

"So, just torture," Yuuri finds himself saying - the thought of Victor being pushed to the back of his mind.

"If necessary, yes," the tall one responds.

"Please, Leo, we're not savages," Guang-Hong chides his partner, giving away his name. 

"No, but we both know that we're required to do what we must to get the information needed. The war's gone on long enough," Leo responds without hesitation.

Yuuri looks between the two of them. "Was there a reason you kidnapped _me_? Because you should probably know that I have no knowledge that will help with the war. I'm not aligned with either side," he tells them.

"We know who you are, Yuuri. We're not looking for a spy or political knowledge. We're looking for something a little more specific than that. More... magical."

Yuuri's caught off-guard by the fact they know his name. It means he was specifically targeted. "I'm not a great Mage or anything," he says without thinking, his voice wavering a little. He has no idea what they want - he wasn't lying when he told them he's not playing a part in the decades-long war between the two kingdoms Pax and Prix. His hometown of Hasetsu has changed ruling hands dozens of times in the twenty-some years he's been alive. He has no allegiance to either side. No moral alignment either.

"I think you're not giving yourself enough credit," Guang-Hong says kindly. "Your skills as a Mage are equal to those in our guild. In fact-" there's a glowing flash like cat’s eyes in the dark under his hood, "your potential far surpasses that of my colleagues."

A Seer. Yuuri's familiar with the sight-magic of Seers, even if he hasn't had much contact with that magic-type before. He ignores it in favour of addressing something a little more important. "Your colleagues are?"

"None of your concern," Leo responds for his partner.

"What we _are_ concerned with, Yuuri," Guang-Hong says, "is what you know about the Yokai, Kashi."

"Kashi?" Yuuri's confusion must be apparent on his face because Leo and Guang-Hong turn to look at each other. He's heard the names of many Yokai, but he doesn't think he's ever heard of that one. More bothersome is why these two think he knows anything about a Yokai. He doesn't converse with them. He's just as terrified of them as anyone else is.

"No need to be coy about it, Yuuri. I've _seen_ it," Guang-Hong says, eyes flashing with luminance again.

"I-" Yuuri hesitates. It's not that he doesn't trust Guang-Hong to tell the truth, but there's a lot that Seers can get wrong. There are futures they see that never come to pass. "I'm telling the truth," Yuuri says, looking between both hooded men, "I've never met a Yokai before."

"It's not a matter of having met the Yokai named Kashi, it's whether you know anything about its whereabouts," Guang-Hong presses on.

Yuuri's frown deepens. "I really don't know anything," he tells them as sincerely as he can manage. "I've never even heard the name until now."

"Think harder, Yuuri. You must. It's already written that you hold the knowledge necessary for Kashi’s revival."

"I, really, really don't," Yuuri shakes his head, but it just makes his vision spin and his headache intensify.

Leo's hand goes to the hilt of his sword, drawing it an inch out of its sheath. "Are you really sure?" He threatens.

"Honestly," Yuuri tells him. He really can't think of a single time he might have heard about a Yokai by the name of Kashi. "You'd probably have more luck in a library? Maybe a Script-Keeper could help? I'm really not the person to be asking about Yokai, or Spirits even. It's not really-" Yuuri pauses to correct himself, "I've never cared about them."

"If it were as easy as searching through tomes, you don't think we would have done that already?" Leo scoffs.

“Just let me go. I swear I don’t know anything. My answer isn’t going to change.”

Guang-Hong looks over at Leo again, something unsaid passing between them. Leo sighs, reaching to the opposite hip from his sword and withdraws a dagger.

"I'm not lying," Yuuri says in a rush, eyes fixed on the cold steel.

"Maybe you're not. Maybe you are," Leo says, advancing, "but right now, we can't take the chance."

Yuuri doesn't stop the cry that rips from his mouth at the first touch of the blade. He's never been a strong-willed person, at least not when it doesn't concern magic, and he doesn't know what to say to stop the pain. So he screams. And whimpers. And begs Leo to stop.

After agonizing minutes of Yuuri’s screams echoing in the cavern, Guang-Hong is the one who finally puts an end to it. "Leo, stop," he says, and the words are a beyond a relief to Yuuri.

He pants and gasps as if he's run a mile. All his muscles are tensed and yet he feels like he doesn't even have the strength to lift his head. He’s withstood no more than a quarter of an hour of torture and he feels completely drained.

"Anything coming back to you now?" Leo asks in a harsh voice, leaving Guang-Hong's hand curled around the wrist of the hand that's holding the dagger.

"No, no, I swear. I don't know anything about it," Yuuri tells him through tears.

"Leo," Guang-Hong says softly, taking his attention away from Yuuri.

"Guang-Hong," Leo replies in a clipped, but broken tone. If Yuuri didn't know any better, he'd say that Leo was just as upset he'd had to resort to torture as Yuuri had been to receive it.

"Please, let me go," Yuuri begs. "I'll tell you anything I remember about any Yokai I've heard of. Maybe one of them is the one you're looking for. Or I can help you search, if you want. I promise, I'd tell you if I knew."

Guang-Hong pulls Leo aside, and the way they're angled, close to the light, Yuuri can finally see Leo's cheekbone and the curve of Guang-Hong's nose.

"We're not getting anywhere," Guang-Hong's voice is low, but in the quiet of the cave, it still carries.

"You're too soft," Leo sounds harsh, but also fond.

"I thought the point of you being my protector was for me to stay 'soft'," Guang-Hong points out.

"So let me handle it then." Leo reaches out and tangles his fingers with his partners. Yuuri can't help but watch the strange tender moment between his two captors.

"What more can we do?" Guang-Hong asks.

"More. Much more. I don't-" Leo cuts himself off, turning to look over at Yuuri. "I'll do anything for you, Guang-Hong, you know that."

"Even lose your humanity?" Guang-Hong hisses back at him.

"If you're sure he knows, then yes. Yes. For you."

Guang-Hong reaches up towards Leo's face, but stops himself before his fingers can caress his cheek. "I'm sure. I've _seen_ it. It's in the past. It can't change. He knows. But surely..." He glances over at Yuuri briefly, eyes flashing with magic again. "Maybe it's repressed? Maybe he's not aware? I don't know. I can't _see_ that."

"What then, Guang-Hong? It's essential we-" Yuuri can hear the way he grinds his teeth to keep the words in.

"We can call in Seung-Gil," Guang-Hong suggests.

"Him? Really? You think he's any better than the two of us?"

Guang-Hong shrugs. "He's different. He may succeed in the ways we've failed."

"Yeah, but..." Leo sighs, leaning forward to rest his shadowed face on Guang-Hong's shoulder. "Is it worth it?"

"It is," Guang-Hong responds, hand resting on the top of Leo's head.

Yuuri doesn't dare interrupt their intimate moment in fear that Leo might retaliate. But, after a few moments, they break apart and turn back to Yuuri, still dark and mysterious, cloaks covering their faces completely again.

"Alright, Yuuri," Leo says, and comes towards him with the dagger again, to which Yuuri flinches away. "You've earned yourself a reprieve for now. But I'd suggest thinking very hard about what you might know. Seung-Gil won't be as forgiving as me." Yuuri doesn't think Leo was forgiving with his blade at all.

This time, however, the dagger is used to pry apart the knots on the rope holding his arms back. Leo's hand is right back at his nape before Yuuri can even think of moving his hands in defense. He goes limp at the pressure.

"Get up."

He stands on shaky legs - his head pounding. His tears haven't helped his headache at all. Guang-Hong releases his chains from the ground this time. He's loathe to walk all the way back, but if it means he gets some time alone, then he might actually be happy to be returned to his little hewn-rock beach in the cave.

It seems like the walk back into the chamber is longer than the walk out. Every cut on his body stings and his muscles are all screaming in protest with each step he takes. His hands are tingling as they finally have their proper blood flow restored.

The entire way back he can't help but think about this mysterious Seung-Gil and who he might be and what torture they might offer that Leo can't. There are much worse things than the blood-letting Leo's just done. But if this is how he's reacted so far, anything worse is going to break him. And he has nothing to offer them to make them stop.

He drops to his knees as soon as he's back in his little patch of rough-stone. He's immediately locked back into place. The two of them leave him there without another word. They all already know what Yuuri needs to do.

Yuuri waits until he’s absolutely sure that Guang-Hong and Leo have left him alone before he dips back into the magic around him and whispers Victor’s spell (that’s still so strangely comforting) to bring the ice-blue flame to life in his hands again. It dances, almost as if it’s happy to see him again.

He sets it down on the ground like usual and coaxes it with more magic into growing larger. It burns bright and hot, almost too much for him. But even just this reminder of Victor’s spell is enough to comfort him. He wishes that Victor was still talking to him - maybe he’d know something about what this Yokai, Kashi, that Yuuri’s supposed to know. Or maybe he’d know a spell that would help him to get out of here.

Before anything else, though, he needs to tend to his wounds. It doesn't take long to assess the damage. His head is still throbbing, so the bump he has is probably more than just a cut. Finding a solution to care for it will likely become necessary sooner rather than later because he's going to need every ounce of his mental ability to get out of this. Right now, however, he's more concerned with all the shallow cuts Leo inflicted.

Because they're not really shallow at all, if he's being completely honest. Some of them have stopped bleeding, but some are still oozing. And after over half an hour like that, they're probably not going to close up on their own, at least not without more blood loss. And, as already noted, he's still feeling woozy, so the light-headedness isn't going to help matters.

Nothing for it, then. He's not a healer, but, as indicated by the blue flame, he isn't completely useless either. He has fire. And that will not only cauterize the wounds, but also (hopefully) prevent infection. Living with Phichit means he's learned enough about healing, so he knows what he needs to worry about when it comes to wounds and injuries.

While the spell he used to try to melt his bonds didn't work because of the magic-resistant metal, it will work for this. He pauses for just a moment, looking at the blue flame giving him both heat and light.

It's easy enough to work Victor's flame spell into his own. As soon as he pulls on the magic, forcing it into heat with his words, his fingertips begin to glow white-hot. He doesn't mind the pain that comes along with magic like this. It doesn't do permanent damage to him - just something he has to ignore so he can use it. Because magic use is nothing if not sacrifice. It requires so much and still can never be tamed. It's what Yuuri both loves and loathes about it.

He discards his bloodied shirt, careful of his hot fingertips; it pulls with sticky blood at the spots where it's starting to heal into the cuts. Then he rolls up his pants. He doesn't want to be naked here - he's already feeling exposed in other ways - but clothes will only get in his way now.

His abdomen has several large cuts, as does his back. His legs are a mess as well, but only up to where Leo was able to pull his pants cuffs up to. Leo had been thorough otherwise, carving slices into his skin with ease every time he asked Yuuri for the same information, even while leaving his garments untouched. Although they probably don’t want to see him naked any more than he wants to be naked in front of them, he’s assuming they don’t have a new change of clothes for him, so they’re preserving what he has for now. They obviously don’t care about bloodstains, though.

He finds the biggest one - a gash on his right side that's still weeping. He doesn't think that any length of pep talk is going to prepare him for the pain that's coming, so he doesn't waste time, just presses his searing hot fingers to the worst of it.

He knows he screams. He can't help it. His vision goes a little spotty too. The pain from cauterizing the wound is different to the kind of pain he receives when using dangerous magic. There's a purpose to magic-use, and he can set aside pain in favour of the outcome he’ll receive. In this case however, there’s no good reason he should be tortured, so the pain of healing wounds doesn’t benefit him besides trying to return his body to a status quo.

He's not withholding information and he shouldn't be chained up awaiting torture. There's a reason that he's kept as much distance from this war as possible, because this is what being part of it means. Pain. Unnecessary actions. Unwarranted violence. He'd love to know why they think that he has any information for them (and how they know his name), but medical attention first, planning and speculating later.

It takes him a long while to cauterize the worst of his wounds. He manages to stay conscious for the entirety of the process, but he's so drained by the end that he just wants to sleep. He leaves most of the other smaller cuts to heal on their own.

He's still parched, despite the brief drink Leo had given him, and the cave water is so tempting. It would not only quench his thirst but be useful to clear away the remaining, crusted blood and soothe the angry red burns. But when he moves towards the edge too fast, his vision goes grey at the edges and he stumbles forward. He’s able to brace himself before he falls face-first into the stone, but that's about all he has the energy to do. Sleep is more necessary than water, apparently.

He drifts off, arm outstretched towards where he knows the water to be, still naked.

* * *

When he finally awakes, his head feels like it's full of cotton and his tongue is stuck to the roof of his mouth. With a groan he rolls over onto his back. Without any daylight in here, it’s very hard to tell how long he’s slept. It doesn’t feel like long.

The blue flame he produced earlier is still there, but it's much smaller. It reminds him that while he's alone here right now, he did have someone helping him earlier.

_“Victor?”_ He tries again, not expecting much after his last attempt.

It's still quiet. He sighs, emotional, and blinks back the tears that are forming at the corners of his eyes. He’s unsure of why he's so upset he hasn’t gotten a response.

_"Yuuri?"_ Victor's voice comes. It's the same as before - that low, calm tone. Disembodied, yes, but absolutely the Victor he was talking to before.

_"Victor!"_ He thinks. He sits up quickly, excited to have his company again and his vision swims a little at the headrush he gets.

_"Oh, Yuuri! I'm so glad to hear you again!"_ Victor sounds just as excited as Yuuri. _"Our connection disappeared while I was talking. I assume it’s because you fell asleep. I did try to call out to you again, but it didn't work."_

_"Thank goodness,"_ Yuuri breathes a sigh of relief. _"I couldn't contact you earlier either. I thought maybe that short conversation was all we had."_

_"Yuuri, no. If you need me, I'll be here, I promise. I just had to catch some sleep too. I spent too long staying up trying to figure out some spells you might need."_ Victor replies, sounding upset with himself. _"I wouldn't have slept if I didn't have to, I promise."_

_"No, no, it's fine,"_ Yuuri finds himself blushing. He doesn't understand why Victor's so adamant on helping him.

_"Are you-"_ Victor's voice cuts off, but floats back in after a moment, _"Are you okay?"_

Yuuri doesn't think he's okay. Not when he thinks about what he's just been through - knife torture and then burning wounds. But it's probably better he doesn't worry Victor too much. _"Been better,"_ he answers instead.

Victor's voice is silent for a few breaths. _"I think I might have something for your head,"_ he finally says. _"It's a brand new spell. I just tried it on myself, so it shouldn’t hurt you, but I don't know how well it will work since I don't have the same symptoms."_

Who IS Victor? Mages that can come up with spells so quickly are few and far between. Yuuri's been able to make his own spells before, but it took weeks of thinking, researching, and planning before he even tried to form the sounds. Not to mention, Mages don't usually deal with healing magic. That's left for the Healers and Elixists. Even a Witch might be better suited for practicing that type of magic than a Mage.

But for some reason, he trusts Victor. There’s something about his voice. Something about how he’s already given Yuuri two beautiful spells that means he innately trusts this one will be no less gorgeous in its construction.

_“Okay,”_ Yuuri thinks without hesitation, _“I’ll try it.”_

Even if he trusts Victor, he is little worried about trying it on himself. It’s dangerous work - even a good Healer won’t practice on themselves unless necessary. One break in concentration, one slip, can shatter the hold the user has over magic. And magic has no master. It’s quick to turn on whomever is trying to force it against its natural state. But he doesn’t have many options here, sitting alone in the dark. He only has what Victor is offering. And if Victor says it won’t hurt him, he’ll have to trust that.

Victor gives him the spell - voice coming across in that magic-laden way that speaks of his experience and expertise. And Yuuri was right. It’s a gorgeous spell. It’s easy to understand the etymology behind it; it’s long and a little rougher in construction than the other spells Victor’s given him, but no less powerful and no less direct in its purpose. He knows it will work as soon as Victor whispers it to him.

_“Wow,”_ he can’t help but think. There’s a rustic component to it, despite it being such a new spell. Perhaps it’s the hint of Healer and Witch magic in the vowel shapes.

_“What?”_ Victor asks quickly, sounding a little worried.

_“It’s beautiful, Victor. It’s… how did you come up with it? I mean, it makes sense. But I’ve never even thought about using Mage spells for healing,”_ Yuuri admits. He doesn’t think there have been many Mages at all that have thought about it.

_“To be honest, I haven’t ever thought about it before now either,_ ” Victor admits with a little chuckle. _“But I knew I had to find a way of creating it if you needed it, Yuuri.”_

_“Thank you,”_ Yuuri tells him sincerely. _“Ah, let me just…”_ He needs a moment to centre himself before pulling on magic. And, while he’s at it, he should probably put his clothes back on. Even if Victor isn’t here, it feels weird talking to him while mostly naked.

His pants and shirt are stiff with blood, but they’re still fully intact and will provide him a little modesty and warmth, so he slips them back into place, wincing as the smaller cuts that still aren’t fully healed catch on the fabric. The larger ones he closed last night don’t stretch very well and are still painful, but from what he can tell, they’re healing alright. More importantly, he’s stopped bleeding.

After he’s got his clothes on, he settles back against the wall, back (well, actually, his whole body) sore from not only the stone ‘bed’ but also everything else he’s been through. He takes a few deep, calming inhales, then lets the air rush out through his nose. He clears his mind of everything else besides Victor’s spell.

He puts his faith in it fully, and the magic around him rises up to greet the words in his mouth. It twists and turns around him without resistance. It caresses his head, swirling his hair and massaging his scalp like a lover would. He can feel the throbbing dissipate and the laceration finally fully close. His headache dissolves and even the pain behind his eyes that he didn’t even realize was there is gone as well.

He feels new. Refreshed. The magic tries to flow down his body - licking at the cuts Leo left, but it doesn’t seem to be able to do much. The spell was obviously just meant for his head, not his whole body. He appreciates it all the same. He can live with physical wounds - it was the fogginess that was bothering him the most. It’s not completely gone, but he finally feels like he can think.

_“Wow,”_ Yuuri can’t help but say again. _“Victor, you’re… amazing. That was… I feel so much better.”_

_“Ah, Yuuri, I’m glad,”_ Victor sounds genuinely pleased.

And in the rush of the headache relief he’s feeling, he asks the one thing he’s been holding back on. _“Who are you?”_ He hasn’t been meaning to ask it at all. He’s a little afraid of the answer. But he has to know. He’s been getting the sneaking suspicion that Victor is much more powerful than Yuuri knows.

_“Yuuri-”_ Victor starts.

_“I mean-!”_ Yuuri interrupts, _“Why are you helping me? We don’t know each other.”_

_“Of course I want to help you, Yuuri,”_ Victor says with a sad voice. _“It doesn’t matter if we’ve never met before now.”_

_“But-”_ Yuuri can’t help himself, _“but I don’t know who you are.”_

_“Don’t be stupid, Yuuri,”_ Victor sounds a little fond, like Yuuri’s actually being ridiculous here, _“I’m your soulmate.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know that cauterizing wounds actually increases the risk of infection, but Yuuri’s more worried about the in-wound infection rather than the infection a second-degree burn might cause. He’s hoping he’ll find a way to keep the cuts clean later. (Also, I don’t know if you noticed, but Yuuri said ‘it takes forever for me to make new spells’, while, not hours earlier he modified a spell to include Victor’s words. Yuuri, you’re a dumbass. And so self-critical.)
> 
> Since I got a question about this, I just want to make sure you know - while the terms here might have gendered connotations (Mage, Witch), they most definitely are not gendered roles in this fic. I promise that I’ll get around to explaining the different kinds of magic-users there are, but you’re just gonna have to wait a little. But exciting stuff - it’s Victor’s POV next!!
> 
> Which character are you most interested to see?


	3. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your support so far! I absolutely adore you guys - you make all the hemming and hawing over wording (and the pushes to ignore my self-doubt) worth it! I’m hoping you’ll all be excited to see more of this. 
> 
> For this chapter, we’re going back in time a little; this is set right after Yuuri and Victor first communicate. 

When Yuuri’s voice first filters through to him, Victor is sure he’s going mad. It comes through as a whisper:  _ "Help me." _

It makes Victor stop his work immediately and look around, confused. He's alone in his study. He knows he is. He's put protections up specifically so only he and Makkachin are able to exist in this room. The protections not only give him privacy, but also allow him to keep his research secret. It's not a spell meant to keep out his colleagues (although it does that too), it's meant to keep out more prying eyes, but he's not naive enough that he can trust anyone but himself. 

So yes, hearing a strange voice in his study that has the best protections he can conjure is concerning. 

_ "What?" _ He thinks, turning around to look at his room. It's packed full of things - mostly books, but also trinkets, magical artifacts, and some potions. But there's nothing there besides Makka who's sleeping in her usual spot by the window, sunlight streaming in from the window warming her fur. 

He's so sure of his own magic that the only other option he has left is that he's hearing voices. And that means he must be going crazy. He's snapped, just like Mila has always teased he would. 

_ "I'm going to die," _ the voice comes again, clear. The panicked, hopeless tone makes the hair on his arms stand on end. It doesn't feel like magic. At least, no magic he's encountered before. But the voice sounds so desperate that he can't help but feel a flicker of pity in his chest. 

He’s pretty sure he’s not completely nuts, so he considers for a second the voice might actually need his help.  _ "Who are you?" _ He asks, responding in a similar, non-verbal way that the voice is.  _ "Are you asking me for help? Because I'm not sure what I can do. I don't even know who you-" _ He stops, mid-thought. 

He immediately thinks about Chris. About all the stories Chris has told him. All the fanciful, romantic tales he's woven all the years they've been friends. 

Only one word comes to mind: soulmate. 

It's not that he doubts that Chris and Masumi are meant for each other, but he's never really taken Chris's declarations of 'soulmates' very seriously. At least, not in the way Chris had meant. 

In fact, he's not sure if he's ever  _ fully _ believed in soulmates. He knows that they're supposed to exist. In fact, a lot of his political conflicts have been based around the idea that he might have a soulmate: whether Victor might already have one has been a point of contention in high society and war rooms for decades. 

But no matter what the rumours might disseminate, Victor has never had anything, or anyone, that might resemble a soulmate. In fact, he’s been so sure of his lack of soulmate that he’s never even given much thought to what he’d do if he did have one.

He's never had love in his life. Or, if he has, it's been so fleeting he's never been able to appreciate it. He's fine with that - he's lived his entire life devoting himself to his practice, ignoring everything that might possibly give him the life people like Chris dream about and it's worked well for him. Look how far he's gotten. 

Soulmates. Really? If soulmates exist, then he's the last person that deserves one. And that belief has been the one thing that's kept him from taking anything the court gossip has to say seriously. 

But this voice. This voice in his head is just how Chris has described his connection with Masumi. It's about the only way someone might know if they had a soulmate. 

Victor  _ has _ read up on soulmates. Of course he has. And he's listened diligently (if not with scepticism) to what Chris has to say on the matter because Victor is always searching for ways to make himself stronger. He's the strongest Mage he knows - comparable to, or surpassing a Sorcerer, even. It's what he does: prove to all the Twelve Kingdoms that he's the strongest there ever was, or will be. All these years he's been able to surprise them with each new spell, each new display of power. 

So, if a soulmate increases a magic-users power, of course he's researched it. From the tomes he's read, the Seers he's spoken to, his understanding of magic, and more, he knows it's the truth - a Mage can become more powerful when they combine or work with their soulmate. What form a soulmate might take, or what the term ‘soulmate’ might even mean, is another matter entirely. 

Victor had considered it for a while: trying to find his soulmate, and because Chris knows first-hand what kind of power a soulmate can bring, he’d been more than happy to help Victor in any way he could. But soulmates, due to their very concealed nature, are difficult to find proof of. 

He'd tried spell after spell. He'd tried making his own. He'd even tried to work with Seers like Sara to help him, but he'd never been successful. He just assumed that he didn't have a soulmate. There's nothing to say that everyone has one. He’s always been unlucky. 

But Chris was adamant. Still is. Soulmates do exist, and you can find them, just like he found Masumi. It just can’t be rushed or forced since it's only in times of crisis are you able to connect to them. 

Chris, still the foremost expert on soulmates Victor’s met, explained it as a type of deep magic - the same kind that Yokai and Spirits use - a magic that crosses time and space. That, because soulmates are people that are completely suited to you no matter what time of life you're in, the magic must be just as powerful and just as connective. It's only through extreme exigency that the interconnection can be accessed. 

When Victor had first scoffed and dismissed it, Chris further explained that it’s probably a type of survival mechanism. If there were anyone that would come to your aid when you were in the most dire situation, it would be someone whom you would trust implicitly - someone that cared about you as much as you cared about yourself. Someone that would do everything they could to keep you alive. Your soulmate. 

Victor has always been fascinated with the idea of 'nature' over 'nurture', and more than anything, he likes magic. So he’s partial to the idea that perhaps you can innately call upon magic to help you in your hour of need. Not that he likes the idea of that help coming from someone else, because, really, can you trust anyone besides yourself? Still, the idea is very romantic in nature, and even if he doesn't believe that he's destined for romance, he can't help but feel fond of it. 

In any case, romantic or not, the only plausible explanation he can come to when Yuuri's voice echoes in his head is that this must be his soulmate. 

_ "Are you there?"  _ Victor tries to project back.  _ "My name is Victor Nikiforov and-" _

He gets cut off by desperate plea of,  _ "please don't let me die." _

He doesn't know who his soulmate is, but even if they aren't actually are destined to be his perfect match, the hopelessness in their voice would have been enough to activate his empathy. 

_ "Please calm down," _ he tries to get across, heart thundering in his own chest as if he's there, feeling their panic too. It would be just his luck that the moment he finds his soulmate - the second he believes there might actually be someone out there that would love him - he'd lose them. That they would die without him ever knowing who they are. 

When his soulmate begs for his family, Victor's heart breaks, and he can't help but ask,  _ "who?" _ He's not sure if he's asking who his soulmate's family is, or just who his soulmate is, but he wants to know. Wants to know everything about them. He wants to be able to help them. He's trained his whole life to be useful: to be a Mage that can overcome any situation. But right now he just feels helpless. 

And just like that he gets a name. Yuuri Katsuki. "Yuuri," he says aloud, testing the feel of the name on his tongue. How... beautiful. 

The connection between them seems to solidify with his name as well and it makes it so much easier to converse. 

Through it all, he does his best to calm Yuuri down. Victor knows he also needs to be calm if he's going to help at all. Makkachin, his familiar, who's completely in tune with him, always knows what he needs and without prompting, awakes at his distress and comes over to rest her head in his lap as a show of comfort. He pets her head, running hands through the silk fur of her ears. 

And of course Yuuri is a Mage. Victor never knew that he cared about whether the person he might hypothetically fall in love with was a magic-user or not, but when he hears 'Mage', something in his heart settles. He knows that his soulmate is just as a spectacular Mage as he is. There's no doubt. 

It's only confirmed when Yuuri admits he's shackled with magical restraints. And even more impressive, he’s still able to do magic - even the slightly more difficult magic Victor's given him - while chained with magic-resistant metal. Amazing.

Yuuri doesn't seem to understand the magnitude of what he's doing. Magic-resistant metal isn't meant to just be impervious to magic (although it certainly does that job well), but it's also meant to nullify a magic-users ability to practice. It's supposed to cut them off from the flow of magic completely. It seems to have no effect on Yuuri, or at least, is nothing more than a small nuisance. 

Yes. Yuuri is special, surprising, even. Of course he would be if he’s meant for Victor.

But Victor’s so desperate for them to get to know each other that he doesn't even think about going on a long-winded tangent, telling Yuuri about himself, until he feels their connection drop. 

He's saddened by the loss. He wanted to keep Yuuri company - keep him calm and give him every little spell that might help him. But perhaps Yuuri had calmed enough, had gotten far enough out of danger, that their mental linkage had run its course. 

It doesn't mean he's going to give up on him, though. He knows Yuuri is still out there somewhere, chained up in a cave, and that's unacceptable. 

He briefly wonders what Yuuri looks like. He’s not vain, per se, although he’s not oblivious enough to be unaware he’s attractive. He’s had many propositions over the years, some of which he’s taken. Many he’s not. It’s not that Victor cares about how attractive Yuuri might be - he’s not shallow enough for that (usually). But if Yuuri looks anything like his voice sounds - rich and warm - then Victor might be besotted at first sight. Besides, when he thinks about Yuuri, he’d like to have a face to put with the name. 

He pulls out a worry-worn stone from his pocket and pushes a small amount of magic into it. He knows the stone’s pair will inform its owner of Victor's need. It's the simplest way of communicating with Chris that Victor has found. Although Victor and Chris may not be soulmates, they have a platonic connection stronger than most, and he never wants either of them to be caught unaware without the ability to connect to each other. 

He’s cut off the magic to the wards around his room and is already looking through some tomes on his desk when Chris comes to the door. 

"What's up?" Chris asks, leaning against the doorframe. He's got a fond smirk pulling at his lips. "Did you need me to bring you and Makka up some food? You've been up here for hours already."

Victor is on his feet and next to him with surprising speed. He gives Chris a quick kiss on the cheek in greeting. "I'm sorry," he says right away. He's sorry for many things, but right now he mostly means that he never took Chris's statements about soulmates more seriously. 

"Sorry?" Chris bites his bottom lip, giving Victor a smouldering look. “Got anything planned to make up for whatever it is?”

"I need your help," Victor plows on. They can have this conversation later, after he's figured out how to help Yuuri. 

"Mmn? What with?" Chris asks without hesitation. 

"I'm headed off the library briefly. There are some magical-tomes I need to pick up," Victor tells him, whistling for Makkachin to follow him as he sweeps into the corridor. Chris follows him just as obediently as his pooch. "Could you find Mila and tell her to meet me back up in my office?"

"Sure," Chris says with a smile. "What's this about?"

Victor doesn't have the time to explain right now, not when he's already thinking about spells that a Mage might be able to use to heal themselves. It's a troubling problem, one he'll have to solve as quickly as possible. He ignores Chris’s question. “Could you also go down to the dungeons and find some magical restraints?"

"Oh?" Chris is keeping up with Victor's fast walking pace. "Kinky."

Victor gives him a little wink as they part, knowing Chris will do as he's asked. He watches as Chris leaves the magic-guild section of the palace they reside in towards the main part of the castle, and then Victor races down the stairs that will take him towards the wing that the library is housed in. 

He leaves Makkachin outside the door to keep guard as he sweeps in, already considering what sections of the vast magical library he might look in both for locating spells and spells that can be used on magical-restraints. He might need as Seer's help with the location magic, but he's willing to offer Sara a great many things (even an afternoon distracting her brother) for help, if needed. 

After about ten minutes he's found more than a few volumes that might house the spells he needs, or at least will help him understand the building blocks for a spell that might suit his needs. But there's a lot of information to go through, and he's not sure how much time Yuuri has, or when they might possibly be in contact again. 

He's beginning to cast a spell that will make a carrying vessel for all the books when a voice comes from the doorway.

"Oi," Yuri says, walking into the library with his familiar, Potya, perched on his shoulders. 

"Not now, Yura," Victor says, piling the tomes he needs into the shimmering container he's produced. 

"You promised we'd talk today," Yuri grouches. 

"Oh, I did?" Victor tries to dismiss him, working hard at shoving a larger volume in. 

"Yeah," Yuri sounds pissed off, as always. 

"About what?" Victor asks, distracted with deciding between two similar books. He keeps both of them, just in case. 

"You teaching me," Yuri grouches. "You've been putting this off for ages. Don't tell me you're going to try to get out of it again this time."

"I'm not a Sorcerer, Yura. You know that. I'm a Mage, like you. And therefore, I'm your peer. Teaching isn't really something I'm equipped to do.  _ Titles _ , you know." Victor dismisses him easily. He's done it so many times before. He helps where he can, but he's never been good at teaching people new magic, especially his own. 

"I don't care if you're a damn Sorcerer or just a Mage. I wouldn't even care if you were an apprentice. I just want to learn some of your spells. Besides, if you'd just take on the title of Sorcerer, like everyone's been asking you to do for ages, it wouldn't be an issue," Yuri tries to state his case. 

"Mmnhum," Victor says, still distracted. "It's not as simple as just deciding to become a Sorcerer," he tries to deflect.

"For you, yeah, it is," Yuri fires back.

"Well, then, I guess you'll have to wait until then, Yurio. But for now, duty calls!" He stacks the last few books into his arms, and gives the magic satchel to Makkachin to carry back to his office. She's used to this, so she readily accepts the straps into her mouth. 

"Oi!" Yuri stomps his feet, "Don't give me that bullshit again!" But he doesn't follow Victor back up to his office. At least he’s smart enough to leave Victor alone when he's focussed on his work, but Victor doesn't doubt for a second that the moment he's free again, Yuri will be right there, reminding him of other promises he's forgotten. The kid's got a memory that rivals a Script-Keeper, especially when it benefits him. 

Chris isn't there when Victor gets back to his study, but he supposes that the dungeons are quite a ways down and it might take him a while to collect the cuffs. That's fine. He can start working on a spell to help with Yuuri's head. 

A concussion is only going to dampen Yuuri's connection to magic, and if he's going to try to destroy magic-resistant cuffs, he's going to need every ounce of his magical prowess to help. That requires clear and unimpeded access to magic. 

He hopes that Mila, a Healer, might be able to help him. He might even need Chris's Witch perspective to help as well - the magic  _ will _ need to deal with Yuuri's mental capacity, and that's more a Witch's speciality than a Mage or Healer. It seems like in this case, he’ll have to step out of his comfort zone and dabble in two other types of magic. Victor may be one of the best spell-casters in Kingdom, but maybe he should talk to a well-rounded apprentice in the palace guild? They might have more of an idea on how to combine the different disciplines. 

There are four possible routes for a magic-user to take as they transition out of apprenticeship: Mage, Witch, Healer, and Seer. Apprentices usually dabble in each before they choose their speciality. Once they’ve decided what kind of magic user they are, their paths to the other domains are cut off.

The first, Mage, like Victor is, deals with physicality: usually in the form of producing physical magic. It's the most common route an apprentice will take, mostly because of the magical variety possible. It’s a very expressive type of magic that can be molded to suit the user’s needs. It's also the most sought-after type of magic-user, mostly because of the inter-kingdom wars. Mages are front and centre on the battlefields and are well-known for their attack magic. 

Once a Mage becomes strong enough, they become a Sorcerer, although those with that title are few and far between. Victor’s only heard of about twenty that are alive right now. His guild members (as well as the court) have been expecting him to retire from the battlefield and take on the title, although none of them actually want him to retire - he’s far too skilled to take away from fighting - but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Victor is finding no joy in it anymore. It’s probably inevitable, but Victor’s still waiting for the right time. 

The second type of magic-user, Witch, deals with the more mental, or psyche, side of magic. They're known for enhancing and supporting other magic-users. There's a stigma attached to them that includes subterfuge, psychosis, and dream-walking. Once a Witch is strong enough, they can become an Enchantress - almost synonymous with Sorcerer, except Enchantresses are few still than Sorcerers, if only because so few apprentices decide on the ‘Witch’ path. 

Mila is the third type of magic-user: Healer. Healers, as the name suggests, are mostly concerned with healing abilities, although the more well-rounded explanation might be that they work their magic on objects. It means they can enchant swords, staves, pendants, and other tokens that are used to enhance other magic-users’ powers. But mostly they work in potions and healing bodies. Their highest title is Elixist, but Victor’s never met anyone that's been strong enough to hold such a title. And despite Mila being that type of magic-user, Victor knows she hasn't met one either. And as good of a Healer Mila is, the training required to become an Elixist is so intense that Victor doubts his coworker will ever come close to achieving the title, even if she is very talented. 

The last type, Seer, is quite different from all the three previous, and frankly, Victor knows the least about them. Seers rarely ever choose their field, but are more usually born into the role. They're an integral part of daily life in a kingdom. Their magic allows them to see the past, present and future. While they are young and their powers are weak, they are only able to see small glimpses into the fabric of time. Perhaps a moment here or there. Usually nothing concrete. However, their insight is coveted by rulers. Even a glimpse of 'what might be' is more than enough to gain the upper hand in a battle of thrones. 

If a person is a Seer, it's almost inevitable they become a Fate. It does, however, take decades for the transition to occur, and the reward is two-sided. While Fates are strong enough to have some semblance of control over their seeing-powers, they often become lost in their visions. Possible futures are endless, and the majority of Fates have been waylaid running through loop after loop of infinite possible futures for a single moment. There are those Fates that disavow their power, preferring to give up their abilities in order to live a normal life, although few that they are, are called Script-Keepers. They access their magic only to receive visions from other Seers, and in turn, they hold compendiums on the past and possible futures. 

Sara is the palace’s resident Seer, and technically part of the guild, but Victor has never had much dealing with her. She’s always a bit too aloof, and secretly, Victor doesn’t want to get too close, lest he fall under her scrutinizing gaze and have a prophecy foretold about him. He understands destiny, and he also understands that Seers can never be sure of the future, but it’s probably better he doesn’t accidentally become involved in a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

However, he knows enough about the other three domains to know when to ask for help. There’s only so much he can do from a Mage’s perspective and healing was never his strong-suit. 

He hasn't made much headway on constructing a new spell by the time Chris arrives, heavy cuffs dangling from the crook of his elbow. “Sooooo,” he drawls, that salacious smirk growing, “which one of us is getting handcuffed?”

“Me first, then maybe you. If you’re good,” Victor manages to joke back, despite the situation. 

“Might have to make it quick, Mila should be here within the hour,” Chris waggles his eyebrows. 

“She’d watch, and you know it,” Victor laughs. 

Chris laughs happily, and swings the cuffs towards Victor. “Here. What are they actually for?”

“I want to find a way to break them.” Victor tells him truthfully. 

“Wait. What. Why?” Chris asks, finding the only extra chair in Victor’s study and pulling it over to sit opposite Victor at his desk. 

“You never know,” Victor shrugs. There are many good reasons as to why he needs to keep Yuuri a secret from everyone. Mostly it’s because of the high courts in the Kingdoms. 

He's not bragging when he says one of the top ten Mages in all of recorded history. When he says he's in a class all his own, it's only the truth. All of the other historically powerful Mages he compares to had been both feared and revered. They'd also all eventually moved on to become Sorcerers. 

Victor assumes some day he might do the same; retire his Mage title, as it were, and work to take on the higher title of Sorcerer. It means he'd have to give up the excitement of the battlefield in place of teaching apprentices and younger Mages, but he hasn't been feeling the same spark when he's been sent out to fight. For the past several years everything's felt dull, like a pale imitation of what life could be. He has Makka, and he has Chris, but they still can't bring the spark he desires to his life. 

He's not actually sure if there ever was a spark, if he's perfectly honest. Maybe he was naive in his youth, thinking that what he had was good enough, was what he wanted. But over time, through observation and through long stretches of loneliness, it's become obvious that he's never really been completely happy. All he's been doing is trying to fill that hole - that dull, lacklustre, void that he feels the constant presence of, sitting just above his breastbone. The feeling that if he slows down for even a minute, it's going to suffocate him. 

So he's distracted himself, tried to fill it with spell after spell, battle after battle, achievement after achievement. But nothing's worked. It's made him who he is, no doubt. It's made him into one of the most respected magic-users in the Twelve Kingdoms. 

Where everyone else has had to put in hard work to learn not only the spells, but how to feel the magic around them and pull from it, it's always just come easily to Victor. Magic’s just spoken to him. It's been his only friend for so long. He still has to put in the work, yes, but not to the extent others do. It also helps he's dedicated his life to it. Given up everything for it. 

Yet, even with all his power, it still feels like he's drowning in a grey ocean of bitter apathy. 

No matter how he feels personally, he does pride himself on his competence, and so does the Kingdom, Prix, he's aligned with. He's had many offers from the other Twelve Kingdoms, but Prix has been his home for most of his life. He's so familiar with the climate and his colleagues that he doesn't think he could ever defect to another kingdom and start over. 

He is aware that prestige is both a blessing and a curse to Prix. They adore him for his spells and the devastation he brings to battlefields, especially since they're currently embroiled in a heated decades-long war with their neighbouring kingdom, Pax, and he's the sole reason they've been so successful for this long. 

He does, however, make for a large target. Prix has been subject to no less than a dozen war proclamations on his behalf since he joined the kingdom's guild. Usually all it takes is a display of his overwhelming magic control for rivals to back off, but some of the more persistent kingdoms required a personal visit. 

Now, though, aside from Pax, most countries are sitting back, biding their time until he's removed from the playing field to try to subjugate Prix. While they're terrified of Victor's power now, they're even more worried about what he might become if he has the added power of a soulmate. 

Of course, that's what the majority of speculation in courts is about (aside from when he might decide to finally become a Sorcerer). The cynics believe that Victor has already found his soulmate and has locked them away, or killed them, and is using their extra power from their soul stored in the gold pendant he always wears. 

It's telling what kind of person people think him to be if that's the prevailing belief. 

The rest are more pessimistic - they believe that Victor really is already this powerful on his own accord and could only become a greater threat if he ever did find his soulmate. 

Until it's confirmed one way or the other, he's been labelled as a threat of unknown power. He doesn't want to tell them the latter belief is true. It will only classify him as a greater danger, which in turn only means more powerful foes to face. And while he usually wouldn't mind a bit of a challenge, he's also not stupid enough to goad trouble.

Victor's had assassination attempts, and if it were revealed that he has a soulmate he'd been in contact with, Yuuri's life would probably be forfeit. So, in short, he wants to keep Yuuri a secret as long as he possibly can. 

However, he’s almost completely positive that Chris would never do anything to harm him, so it should be alright to let Chris in on his new, precious, acquisition. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t know why he wants to keep Yuuri a secret from Chris for now. 

Maybe it’s because a soulmate is something so profoundly his. Maybe he wants to be the only one Yuuri needs. Maybe it’s because he wants to be able to protect Yuuri from everything himself - show that he’s a worthy soulmate in return. Whatever it is, Chris will just have to wait. But that doesn’t mean Victor can’t still get useful information from him… 

"Hey, you might want to relax a little," Chris interrupts his thoughts, leaning over to pry Victor's hand away from his necklace he's subconsciously begun to grip. 

He lets go immediately, flexing his hand and rubbing at the red indents it's left. 

He's not surprised that he'd reached for his pendant while thinking about Yuuri. He'll have to be careful. Chris is the only one who knows what its true purpose is, and if he reads into it too much, with all his fanciful thoughts of soulmates, he might actually come to the correct conclusion. 

"Sorry," Victor tries to brush it off. "I'm just stressed. Haven't been sleeping well."

"You never sleep well, Vitya," Chris chides him. Except he's giving Victor a worried, but knowing look. His eyes flicker to the magical-restraint cuffs on the desk and Victor's sure the game is up. 

There's no holding back now, so he just goes with it. "Chris, tell me about Masumi. How did you know he was your soulmate?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we get something from Victor. He’s going to get the next chapter too because I have more to say about him and this chapter was going to end up being too long. We’ll get back to Yuuri soon, I promise. 
> 
> If you have any questions about the world or the magic, just lemme know and I’ll make sure to answer it best I can. I’d love to hear if you’re enjoying this (or what parts of it you like) - it gives me so much motivation and also lets you have a bit of say in where this is going. 


	4. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost totally forgot to post today! (I forgot what day it was: it’s been a weird week.) I really hope everyone is enjoying the quick release schedule - it feels good to actually deliver chapters with regularity. (It also means, as long as I don’t forget what day of the week it is, I should be posting another chapter on Monday.)
> 
> Just want to remind you: please check the tags for this if you haven’t already. There are some references to a few nasty things. Nothing is said explicitly, but I just want to be careful.

Victor doesn’t concede to the staring contest Chris is currently trying to engaging him in.

“Victor-” He starts.

“Chris,” Victor interrupts. “I thought you were always willing to talk about your soulmate.”

“Yes, but-” Chris tries again, frown beginning to turn down the corner of his lips.

“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine-”

“No, no,” Chris stops him. "I'm just curious as to why you've changed your mind, _Chéri_. You've never really listened before."

"I have, too," Victor sniffs, trying to look offended.

Chris lets out a single, loud laugh. "We've known each other for long enough that I know when you're actually paying attention. When you aren't, you get this look in your eyes. Oh no, don't worry," he flaps a hand at Victor's frown, "I don't think it's noticeable to most people. It's like you're there and you're half-processing whatever's being said, but most of your attention is somewhere else."

"Chris..." Victor pouts.

"I don't mind, Vitya," Chris smiles at him. "I figure whatever it is you're thinking about is probably more important than me rambling about 'true love' or whatever. I just assume you're coming up with more dazzling spells and whatnot. Can't complain about that, can I?"

Victor leans over to give Chris a quick peck on the cheek. He's the friend that Victor's not sure he deserves.

"You missed," Chris warbles, puckering his lips.

Victor just rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, if you just want background noise, you know I'll talk for hours about Masumi. Or, is there another reason you wanted to hear about my soulmate?" Chris gives him a calculating look he tries to disguise as innocence.

Victor picks up a spellbook, glancing over the top of it at his friend, and then with an exaggerated motion, turns his gaze back to the pages. It's better if he just doesn't say anything. Chris is surprisingly perceptive. Probably why he's such a good Witch.

"Well," Chris starts, obviously deciding that he can put aside whatever's bothering Victor in favour of his favourite topic - his soulmate. "We met three years after I joined Prix's magic-guild."

Victor hums in acknowledgement. He remembers those first few years with Chris around. He'd been the one to originally talk Chris into working for the kingdom's guild instead of being an 'independent contractor'.

When Victor had first met him, he'd been involved in some pretty dubious dealings. His magic-specialty was sexual magic. Well-suited to him and highly sought after in certain circles. But also very dangerous. And with a very limited type of clientele. Of course, he's branched out now into other magic (and is just as effective and powerful with it), but the spells he still really excels at are usually the ones that deal with sexual emotions.

Chris had been young and naive when Victor had welcomed him to the guild, despite the more mature nature of his magic. He'd been very withdrawn around all the other magic users, believing for years that he didn't belong in a palace's guild. He'd been a bit wild for several years back then as he tried to find where he fit in. Victor had supported him, but kept his distance for the first while.

In fact, their relationship probably hadn't started to blossom until after Chris had found Masumi. They hadn't been particularly close when Chris had found his soulmate, so Victor hadn't been there to experience the entire drama they'd gone through.

"Back in those days," Chris continues with a faraway look on his face, "I wasn't around much, was I?"

"No," Victor agrees, staring into his book without actually reading anything. "You spent most of those first three or so years outside the castle. Running errands for King Yakov and putting yourself out on the front lines of the battle with Pax."

Chris hums in agreement. "Yeah. I did lots of travelling back then. I didn't feel like I fit in here at the castle, so I tried to escape those awkward feelings while simultaneously denying that I wasn’t quitting the guild because I actually wanted to be here with everyone."

"Even if it took you awhile, I'm glad you're here," Victor says sincerely. "But you were an idiot. With a death-wish."

Chris chuckles, leaning back in his chair. "Yeah, I was. Didn't care much about my own life at that point. Masumi changed that for me. Because with him I finally had someone who cared about what happened to me."

Victor doesn't bother trying to tell him he would have cared what happened to Chris because they would both know it's a lie. He hadn't really cared about Chris back then; he'd recruited him for his abilities, not for friendship.

"I did end up seeing a lot of the Kingdom. And even quite a lot of Pax too. Grew a lot as a Witch, so I can't say I regret it."

"You shouldn't," Victor tells him. "You're hardly the first person to take to the battlefield because they're trying to run from something at home."

"And I won't be the last either. But..." Chris pauses. "I was reckless back then. Much too reckless. I was trying more and more dangerous spells. And I was back in contact with some of my previous... employers."

"Really?" Victor does look up at him then. He never knew that.

"Yeah," Chris runs a hand through his hair. "I was thinking of cutting and running. Thought maybe all I was cut out for was a life of running with prostitution rings and drug dens. That kind of thing."

Victor knew that Chris had felt that way at some point, but he had no idea that his friend had been so close to throwing it all away.

"And then, I was out in the middle of a battle. You know," Chris hesitates a little here and it makes Victor wonder if there isn't more to the story. "I had spent the morning torturing Pax soldiers," Chris admits in a quiet voice.

Victor nods in understanding. While, as a Mage, he's useful on the forefront of battle - right in the thick of things - Chris's Witch abilities are much more suited the backroom dealings. Not that Chris hadn't made a name for himself in the troops anyway - he's been one of the few Witches to actually agree to get dirty with the soldiers and fight their foes face-to-face.

"And when I first heard him. I-" Chris's nose crinkles as if in distaste. Victor's never seen Chris display anything other than excitement and love when he talks about how he and Masumi are bona fide soulmates.

Victor finally closes his book and puts it to the side. This seems like something he should be fully paying attention to, if only to show Chris he cares deeply about him.

"I thought I was going crazy. That maybe I'd tortured so many people that they were... I dunno. In my head."

That's something Victor now very accurately understands.

"He was screaming. Just... screaming. For hours. I didn't even think to try to talk back to him. I didn't realize he was a real person, in real pain. I thought it was just me."

Chris looks upset by this and Victor wants to reach out to comfort him, but doesn't want to interrupt.

"It was only after he started to talk. You know. About Prix. Secrets he shouldn't know. That I finally realized who he was. I'd heard from some of the girls I used to work with how they were sometimes able to communicate with their soulmates. How they could get through the worst of it because someone out there was in their head, talking to them, comforting them. It's only because of them I knew what was happening."

Victor thought that Chris had always just known about a soulmate's communication. It's not like it's forbidden knowledge. Everyone’s talked about it at some point in their lives. But besides Chris, Victor's never met someone who's talked _to_ their soulmate before, so it's only ever been stories. And you're always disinclined to believe fanciful stories like that.

Maybe it's because Victor's come from a pretty cushy lifestyle that none of his acquaintances have ever been in enough trouble they've connected to their soulmates. Although, he's spent enough time out at war he should have heard at least whispers through the troops.

"But-" Chris cuts himself off with a grimace. "But, none of their soulmates ever came for them. I always thought that was sad. Or... I don't know. That their soulmates must have been assholes. Because how could you listen to someone you're supposed to love with your whole heart be in that much pain and not do anything about it? They could communicate, right? The girls knew where they were being held most of the time. It wouldn't have been hard for their soulmates to come and take them away. Or... I dunno. Save them. Whatever. But they never did."

Chris reaches down to pet Makkachin, although it isn't Chris's own fluffy feline familiar, Makka is very good at providing emotional support. She's been doing it for Victor for so many years.

"As soon as I realized that the person in my head was alive and my soulmate, I vowed I'd save him." Chris says in a slightly bitter tone.

Victor supposes, in a way, that although the idea of soulmates is romantic, the only way you'll ever know who they are requires pain and suffering. The dichotomy between Love and Pain. Perhaps you can never have one without the other.

"It was so difficult to listen to him. He lasted so long, you know?" Chris swallows thickly. "They wanted information about the Prix army, and they were going to get it no matter what."

Victor knows that Masumi used to be part of the Prix's palace guild, but he honestly doesn't ever remember meeting him before he returned as Chris's soulmate.

"It took days for me to find him. He didn't really know where he as being held captive. And it's not like I had spellbooks at my disposal to find a way to track him."

Which is exactly what Victor's doing. At least he has this luxury that Chris didn't. If Chris could save his soulmate without all of this information at his disposal, then surely Victor can do it as well.

"You know, I was listening when they-" Victor can see Chris clenching his teeth. There are unshed tears in his eyes that he blinks away desperately. "-when they took his magic." He finally says.

Victor knows about that part. Masumi had gone into the 'interrogation' as a Mage. But, while his captor's reward for Masumi giving them the information they wanted was his life, they couldn't very well allow a powerful Mage with a grudge back on the battlefield. The Enchantress with them had used a deep, powerful spell to take away any and all of Masumi's connection to magic.

He'd come out of it a normal man. And still, to this day, he's never regained even a wisp of the association with magic he'd once had as a Mage.

They're both silent for the few moments it takes for Chris to gather some of his composure.

"You lose your connection to your soulmate when either one of you sleeps. Or passes out," Chris finally says. "And of course, only the one who's in danger can make the connection. I thought-" Chris's voice breaks, "-I thought he'd died. I thought I'd listened to him die."

Victor's heart feels strangely tight. He doesn't know Yuuri very well, not well enough to know whether he loves him yet, but thinking about Yuuri dying and never hearing him, or having a chance to meet him, makes him ache. He'd assumed that when communication between them dropped off, Yuuri had fallen asleep. But now he's worried it's something far worse.

"I wasn't fast enough to save him from losing his magic. I couldn't even figure out where they'd kept him. It was only once he stumbled out of the forest and could tell me exactly where he was that I found him."

"But you did find him," Victor says, because he doesn't know any other way to comfort Chris about this. "And he's safe now and here with you."

"Yeah," Chris finally turns to look at Victor again, giving him a small smile. "He's mine now. And... despite all of that. It's been worth it. To have him with me, by my side. He centres me. He IS the centre of me."

"He's the reason you came back to the guild," Victor infers. He's always known Masumi was the reason Chris left the front lines. It's the reason he and Chris are friends now.

"He's the reason for a lot of things," Chris agrees.

It's strange to think of what Masumi and Chris might have been like during those first moments together. They're nothing but smiles and love nowadays: (and Victor’s heard far too much about their sex life that he knows that they're just as passionate as always.) completely besotted with each other.

There doesn't seem to be any lasting impact on Masumi, beyond the lack of magic. He's a pleasant person, who loves Chris very much. Victor likes him, and he knows Masumi feels the same for him. They connect to each other easily because they both have Chris's best interests at heart. Masumi keeps him safe at home and Victor keeps him safe at work.

"The information they wanted from Masumi - the reason he was tortured-" Chris pauses, as if he's considering what he'll say next. "They wanted information about you, Victor."

Victor doesn't find himself surprised very often. But he is now. This is a day of surprises for him, apparently.

Chris has never told him what, exactly, Masumi was asked to reveal. Apparently there was a reason he never did. It's not that unexpected, though: Victor is Prix's greatest weapon. Any information on how he might be taken out would be useful to a kingdom like Pax.

But the way Chris is staring at him, it seems like there's something more he isn't saying. Victor wonders if he should ask for details. Or maybe apologize. Is that what you're supposed to do in a situation like this?

It does make him wonder why, if Chris had known Victor was the reason for his soulmate’s torture, he'd ever befriended him.

"Am I interrupting something?" Mila startles them both from her spot in Victor's doorway.

She's wearing tight pants and shirt, something completely different (and infinitely more practical) than the dresses the ladies in the palace usually wear. She must have been focussing on her work today if she preferred the more moveable outfit.

Victor waves his hand to allow her entrance to the study. She steps over the threshold when she's sure won't be attacked by one of Victor's security spells. "Thanks for coming, Mila." He ignores her question and the tension in the room. He and Chris can discuss this later, if they need to.

"Chris said you needed me?" She asks, coming over and giving Makka a couple scruffles. "Didn't say what for."

"Didn't tell me either," Chris shrugs, the tension in his body from the conversation gone. His eyes are bright and filled with mischievousness as usual.

Victor decides to dive right in - he's wasted enough time talking with Chris. He doesn't know when (if) Yuuri will contact him again and he'd like to have something ready to give him. "Is there a way a Mage could do a healing spell?" he asks.

"Healing spell?" Mila and Chris parrot at the same time.

"What would you need a healing spell for?" Mila asks. "I do a good enough job, don't I?"

"It's an... academic venture." Victor tells them.

Chris scoffs. He knows Victor well enough that he's not going to believe that line easily. Mila, however, nods in understanding. Victor's asked for her help with weird spells more than once, so this request doesn't really seem out of the ordinary.

"Well, unless you're wanting to chain me up now," Chris says, pushing his chair back, "I don't think I'm needed here."

"No, no, stay," Victor says. "I want your input too. The spell I want to create, it's for a head wound. A concussion, probably. So, I think I'll need to pull from both of your disciplines for this one."

"You okay?" Chris asks, leaning forward, hand outstretched, as if he's going to check Victor's head.

"I'm fine," Victor bats his hand away. "Really. I'm not hurt," he reiterates when he gets a glare from Chris. "But the biggest obstacle to conducting magic properly is state of mind, right?" He starts to explain.

Both Mila and Chris hum in affirmation.

"So, the best way to incapacitate me, or slow me down, would be some kind of head trauma, yes?" He asks, touching his finger to his lip, as is his usual ‘thinking’ pose. He knows it will help to sell them on the idea this is purely academic.

"I suppose," Mila nods. “Might be easier if you were an apprentice and not specialized.”

"Death would be a more fool-proof solution," Chris jokes.

"I figure, if I'm dead, I won't be worried about using magic, will I?" Victor gives his cheeky rebuttal.

"I could smack your heads together and see how much you're affected," Mila says with a sly smile.

"Theory first, practice later," Victor winks at her. He stands up, stretching, and then faces Chris. "So? Think you'll be able to help?"

"Yeah, probably," Chris nods.

“Perfect,” Victor grins, then grabs one of the books on his desk and tosses it to Chris. “Don’t waste time, then.”

* * *

It takes about five hours. Much longer than Victor’s ever spent on producing a new spell (at least since his apprentice days). But he gives himself a little leeway. He usually doesn't try to force his Mage magic into one of the other domains, let alone two.

It was actually a quite a difficult process. It had required every ounce of his magical knowledge and a few improvisations on how to string together the component parts of the spell, as well as a few ingenious ways of rewording Healer and Witch magic into something a Mage could use. Maybe it's his greatest accomplishment yet. Nothing is too difficult for Victor Nikiforov - even if the final version of the spell is a little rough around the edges. He might be able to refine it with time and practice, but he doesn't have that luxury.

It's not a spell he would have ever thought of creating before. Of course his soulmate is bound to bring out the best in him - make him work for what he wants. Victor can't help but be pleased by himself.

The spell is specifically meant for head injuries, although it should help heal any status afflictions related to the head trauma as well. He's hoping that it will work for Yuuri.

"So, are you gonna test it?" Chris asks, grabbing a piece of bread from the leftovers of dinner he'd brought back an hour ago for the three of them. For how long he was gone, Victor's pretty sure he stopped by his chambers to tell Masumi he'd be home late. (Masumi is used to Victor and Chris's late-night adventures by now, so it's mostly out of courtesy that Chris tells him.)

"I'm sure it will work," Victor says with confidence. "It's not like I can test it anyway."

"The offer to knock your heads together still stands," Mila says with a yawn.

"You should test it anyway. Make sure it isn't going to cause any damage." Chris tells him.

"I'm offended you think that I'm so careless in my spell construction that I would make a mistake and let my spell hurt me instead of-"

Chris cuts him off with a quick laugh. "Just because you're a genius with this stuff doesn't mean you don't make mistakes."

That's true, Victor thinks. If he's going to make Yuuri use it, he probably should make sure it isn't going to make things worse.

"Part of me is hoping it doesn't work," Mila says, lounging back in the chair she'd procured from somewhere. “It would serve you right for being so damn cocky.”

Victor ignores her, and instead closes his eyes, feeling for the flow of magic around him. It rises to meet him in anticipation. It likes him - likes his spells. Or, is at least intrigued by them. The words seem heavy on his tongue. He's unused to drawing on the Witch and Healer parts of magic, but it's all supported by his strong mastery of Mage magic.

The spell commands the magic to wrap around his head. It pokes and prods at him, ruffling his silver hair, searching for the ailment it's supposed to fix, and finding none, slowly slips away.

Well. At least it seems the spell doesn’t anger or provoked magic, so it should be safe to use. Whether it will be effective is something else. He still has confidence in his work, though.

"Interesting," Chris says. "I could feel that."

"Ugh, so could I," Mila agrees. "Felt weird. Don't do it again."

"Weird?" Victor asks.

"Yeah, like you were pulling magic away from me." Mila adds.

"Not my intention," Victor grins. "But interesting to know."

"No. No testing that, Victor," Chris immediately shuts him down.

"Well, if hasn't killed you, I guess we did a good job, right?" Mila asks. "Is that all you needed help with, then?"

Victor nods. "Yes. Thank you, Mila."

"Alright, I guess we'll call it a night, then," Chris slams an open tome shut with a loud bang, letting loose a small cloud of dust that was still clinging to its cover.

"No," Victor says quickly. "I still need you. I want you to chain me up," he points over at the magical-restraints that are still sitting on the table.

"And with that, I'm going to bed," Mila says, standing and stretching. "I've spent far too long around dicks today."

"Hey." Chris says, like he could be offended if he tried harder.

"Literal dicks, not figurative," Mila clarifies. "I was helping Georgi and Emil earlier. Too much testosterone."

"How much testosterone do you think I have?" Chris laughs.

"More than me or Sara, which makes me an outie." Mila grins. "Ciao~!" With a wink, she's gone quickly, probably because she doesn't want to get roped into another fanciful idea Victor has.

Chris sighs and slips down in his chair. "My poor ass is hurting, Victor," he whines. "How am I supposed to keep it round and plush if you have me sitting for hours on end. You sure you need to work on the restraint thing now?"

"Yes," Victor nods. "I'm on a roll, Chris. No reason to stop now."

Chris sighs, but doesn't protest anymore. "Alright. So, you're working on things that will help you in case you're kidnapped or something? Did Sara tell you something? Or are you just being paranoid?"

"Better to be prepared, Chris. It's the only way I'll be able to surprise people." Victor deflects.

"You surprise people all the time, Victor. You're the best bloody mage in all of the Twelve Kingdoms. They're always going to be surprised by what you can do. I've known you for years, seen a lot of what you're capable of, and I'm still surprised. That bloody spell you just made - never would have even thought it was possible. But you just come in and do it. When you first said you were going to do it, I was surprised, yes, but I didn't think you wouldn't be able to accomplish it. You may surprise people, but no one's going to underestimate you."

"I think that was a compliment," Victor says because he isn't sure what else to say.

"Yeah, it was, you jackass.” Chris grins, but sobers fairly quickly. “Look, about the soulmate thing...”

Victor just smiles at him and makes a fanciful gesture to wave him off. “Don’t worry, Chris. It’s in the past. As long as we’re good now-”

“Not what I’m talking about,” Chris interrupts, the knowing look coming back. “I know you, Victor. Probably better than anyone else.”

Victor hums in agreement. He’s not particularly close with many people. It’s not that he finds it hard to make connections, it’s just he’s always wary that there are ulterior motives.

“I know about your skills. I know about your shortcomings. I know your reputation, and I know what you actually think of yourself. I also know about that-” he points to Victor’s chest.

“Is now the time?” Victor tries to derail him, but it seems like it won’t be as easy this time.

“I know you, Victor. But I don’t _know_ you.”

“Deep,” he jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

Chris shrugs, sighing. “Deflect all you want, I’m still going to say it. You’re known for your ice heart, Vitya. We’ve both heard the nicknames you’re given. Ice Mage. Frostburn. Mage from the North.”

“All ridiculous,” Victor pouts. “I’m a Mage, so by association, my specialty is fire-”

“Victor,” Chris chuckles, knowing how incensed Victor can get about the nicknames the other Kingdoms give him, “you may have everyone convinced you’re ice cold - that your heart is frozen - but I know better.”

Victor doesn’t know what to say to that. Chris probably is the only one who knows what his heart is truly like, and even then, he doubts Chris has even scratched the surface. He probably doesn’t know how desperate Victor is for those ‘L’ words that Chris has been given freely by Masumi. He’s happy for him, yes, but it’s hard not to be a little jealous.

“You know you don’t have to hide your heart from me, Vitya,” Chris says gently, leaning across the space between them and grasping at Victor’s hand.

“I know,” Victor says after a moment, squeezing Chris’s hand back, then letting go. “But there isn’t much to hide, is there?” He still can’t bring himself to say anything about Yuuri.

“But when there is…” Chris trails off pointedly.

Victor gives him the biggest smile he can muster. “Who else would I tell?”

The smile seems to appease Chris, and he smirks back. “Makkachin,” he says seriously. “But I just want you to know I’ll listen. Now, what kind of dazzling magic are you going to come up with for the cuffs?"

The end of the conversation is a relief to Victor, and he immediately takes the ‘out’ he’s been given. He grabs the cuffs, weighing them in his hands. "Not sure yet. Working with other disciplines isn't unheard of, but using magic while in magic-resistant cuffs?"

"Also not unheard of," Chris points out.

"The last person to do it was one of the Great Sorcerers, and no one was sure if he did it himself or if he had help," Victor knows his history.

"And you're gonna be in that category someday, whenever you finally decide to take on the title," Chris says with exasperation. "Besides, if anyone is going to be able to do it, it's you. You defy the laws of magic all the time. Magic-restraints are going to be nothing to you."

Chris is so sure of Victor's abilities that Victor gets caught up in it too. So, when Chris finally snaps the cuffs on him (after a good solid ten minutes of innuendo), he's surprised to find how effective they are.

He closes his eyes to concentrate. He hasn't relied on this type of magic visualization for a long time. He can still feel the magic around him, but it's harder to reach. Harder to concentrate on. And where it usually swirls around him in greeting, now it just smoothly slips by him without a care.

He tries to pull on it, like he usually would, but it's like holding water: it just dribbles through his fingers. He can't catch it. He can't touch it. It's like he's reverted to his childhood, when his hold on magic was tenuous. But even then, he'd been able to grasp at it. It had still spoken to him like a friend.

Now, it's like he doesn't exist.

He feels a deep weight in his stomach. A feeling of discomfort. A slow, building panic.

"Get them off," he gasps, eyes flying open to stare at Chris.

Chris wastes no time in unlocking them and ripping them off Victor's wrists.

"That bad?" Chris asks, looking very concerned.

Victor breathes deeply through his nose, trying to calm his racing heart. Usually his heart races because he’s using magic; he revels in the way it always makes him feel like he’s balanced on the edge of a blade between power and complete destruction. The utter lack of any connection is more disconcerting than he wants to say out loud.

He reaches out for magic again, and this time, it reaches out for him too - sparking against his fingertips in excitement.

It's still there. He's still a Mage. He still has control over it.

"Again," he says to Chris, nodding in assurement when his friend hesitates.

He fights off the panic when his connection to magic is once again cut off. He can do this. It's for Yuuri. It's to save his soulmate. His _soulmate_.

But after several hours of the same thing, he still can't even produce the smallest piece of magic. He still can't connect to it, let alone command it. The magic-resistant cuffs are nothing if not effective.

Between trying not to panic that if he were ever in Yuuri's situation, he might never be able to escape, and lamenting about the dreadful feeling of losing magic, he's reminded that Yuuri is still able to do magic: that his soulmate is so powerful he's overcome the magic-resistant cuffs that even Victor couldn't conquer, without a worry. His soulmate must be perfect for him.

"Victor," Chris says softly when Victor asks to be restrained again.

The moon is high and beaming down through the window into his cluttered study, bouncing cool light off of trinkets made of glass. It makes for an otherworldly setting. Even the lines of Chris's face have faded, making him look uncomfortably young. They’d only lit one lamp earlier, and it’s flickering low in the far corner.

"I think we should call it a night. You're not making any progress." Chris suggests.

Victor knows he's right. But he can't help but think of Yuuri sitting alone in a dark cave, terrified.

"You'll do better once you've had some sleep," Chris says when Victor doesn't answer. "And maybe in the morning, you can use them on me and work from the outside in, instead," he suggests.

"The magic to release them from outside is going to be different than if I had to do it while cuffed," Victor huffs, pushing his silver fringe out of his face.

Chris dumps the shackles on the table and moves into Victor's space. He reaches out and smoothes Victor's hair back into its usual place. "You're probably right, but maybe a different approach will help."

"Okay," Victor agrees, slumping forward to rest his head on Chris's shoulder.

"I can't do it tonight," Chris tells him. "I need to... prepare. Mentally. I need sleep. And so do you. But I promise. Tomorrow. I'll help."

Victor nods. "Tomorrow. Could you... I don't know who to ask. But you know most of the palace staff. I need.... I need a complete compendium on every cave system in the Twelve Kingdoms."

Chris tries to pull back to look at him, but Victor's wraps his arms around him in a tight hug. "What's going on, Victor?" He asks, concern evident in his tone.

"Please," Victor says softly. "Anything we have."

There's a brief pause then; "okay," Chris says, returning the embrace just as tightly.

Chris is right. Sleep first. Then heroics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly? I’m in love with Chris and Victor’s relationship. It’s the kind of friendship I’ve coveted. I know Nefaria asked for the Chris/Masumi pairing as well, and I hope I’m delivering! It was fun to delve into a deep side of Chris that I usually wouldn’t. He may be all about butts, but he’s still got complex feelings (about butts (and more)). 
> 
> Next chapter we get back to Yuuri (poor boy’s still stuck in the cave!). Any thoughts on what Seung-Gil might have to offer that Leo and Guang-Hong can’t? 
> 
> ALSO. I’ll start asking this now: when Victor and Yuuri finally meet, how high a rating would you like to see?


	5. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this comes at a good time for everyone. Since I know a lot of people are leaving/boycotting tumblr today, I figure you might want something to distract you. I’ll still be there and you can come talk to me anytime you like (about anything you like). 
> 
> And now it’s finally back to Yuuri - right where we left him two chapters ago. Still in the cave, having heard Victor call them ‘soulmates’ for the first time. He has to escape at some point... right?

_Soulmate?_ Yuuri’s struck speechless (or is it thoughtless?). Did Victor really just say what he thinks?

Yuuri believes in a great many things. He's experienced so many strange things already in his life that it's hard to be sceptical of anything magic-related. But soulmates? No. He's heard about them, sure, but the idea is just ridiculous.

Soulmates are the _one_ thing Yuuri doesn't believe in. He's never actually met anyone who's had one. Not that he needs to see to believe. Alternate realities? Sure. Magic so powerful it breaks the laws of their world? Probably. Prophecies that both can be nullified and inevitable at the same time? Of course. Yokai and Spirits that exist on another plane of existence? Yup. But someone who's pre-destined to love you? No, that's going too far.

_"Ah, Victor, I'm very grateful for your help, but I don't think we know each other well enough to say 'soulmates'-"_ He tries to argue without offending Victor.

_"But we are."_ Victor sounds firm. _"That's what this is, you know. A soulmate connection. It's how we can talk to each other."_

That fuzzy headache feeling is returning. _"What?"_ Yuuri can't help but think.

_"Why else do you think we're connected? It makes sense, Yuuri. I even talked to my friend, Chris, who has a soulmate of his own, and he confirmed it. Well. I didn't tell him about you specifically, but from what he told me about the connection with his soulmate, it fits perfectly."_

_"What."_ Yuuri deadpans.

_"...soulmates, Yuuri. Have you never heard of them?"_ Victor sounds a little hesitant.

_"I- ah. Yes. I've, uh. Yeah. But, Victor. You know... soulmates aren't real, right?"_ He tries. He knows he shouldn't argue. If this man wants to believe they’re soulmates and help Yuuri escape, then he should just take it without complaint. They'll probably never meet, so it won't become a problem. Victor said he couldn't contact Yuuri, so once Yuuri's free, he just has to make sure not to call out to Victor again.

_"They are,"_ Victor huffs. _"I've seen it with my own eyes. I'll admit that I never thought I'd end up with a soulmate of my own, so I'm not entirely sure how to proceed, especially with such a powerful Mage, but I-"_

_"Wait."_ Yuuri cuts him off. _"I think you've got the wrong idea. First of all, I'm not powerful at all, I'm just me. I'm prone to anxiety. I'm constantly worried that my self-confidence is going to warp my magic. And it has in the past. I'm not powerful. And secondly, soulmates are a children's fairytale. They're not actually real."_ Yuuri knows he shouldn't be telling Victor all of this, but if they're going to work together to help him get out of this, then he needs to be straightforward about his shortcomings. Just because he's been able to complete the magic Victor's given him so far doesn't mean he'll be able to do it in the future.

_“You’re not giving yourself enough credit, Yuuri,”_ Victor says flippantly.

This whole situation is so ridiculous. Some voice in his head is professing they’re soulmates while he’s in the middle of being a victim of war. Yuuri can’t help himself. _“Victor. I’m not in love with you.”_

Victor’s voice doesn’t come for a while, and Yuuri holds his breath, hoping he didn’t just screw things up, but when it does, it’s a soft and airy tone. _“I know. That’s fine. We hardly know each other yet. But I’d like to. So for now, let’s just call it as it is: we’re soulmates. It’s simply a title, and we get to decide what it means. We can figure out feelings later.”_

_“Okay,”_ Yuuri thinks, even if it’s exactly opposite of how he feels.

_“Now,”_ Victor keeps going, as if declaring they’re meant to be together is as easy as stating the weather, _“Did you find anything else out about where you are?”_

_“What were you expecting I’d find? I’m back in the same cave as before.”_ Yuuri decides to put aside the soulmate issue. It won’t matter unless they end up meeting, right? And he doesn’t want to do that - he knows he’d be a disappointment.

_“Nothing else new? Can you describe some of the things you see in the cave? Maybe that might help narrow things down. Is the light spell I gave you still working?”_ Victor rattles off in quick succession.

_“I, ah-”_ Yuuri pauses. He’s glad that the only connection Victor has to him is his voice. If he could see Yuuri right now… he wonders if he should tell Victor about his captors. He was thinking that perhaps it would be extraneous information. But it’s not like he has anything to hide. He really doesn’t understand why he’s been taken. And maybe Victor might know something about the Yokai he’s supposed to have information on.

_“What, Yuuri?”_ Victor prods.

_“I was… I was taken. They came back for me.”_

_“What? Who?”_ Victor’s voice turns hard.

_“My captors. They came for me. Dragged me through the cave. It’s… it’s a big cave system, Victor. They…”_ he knows he’s not speaking aloud, but even the way his voice is going across the connection, it sounds like it’s cracking. _"They wanted information."_

_"Information? Yuuri, did they do something? Who are they? Did you talk?"_ Victor's voice is getting even more firm, almost like he's getting angry on Yuuri's behalf.

_"One question at a time, Victor,"_ Yuuri thinks. He shifts so he's more comfortable on the floor. He contemplates doing Victor's light magic again, just for the warm glow it gives, but he doesn't know when Guang-Hong and Leo might be back and the flame is less conspicuous in case they don't give him the same kind of verbal warning as last time.

_"Start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened,"_ Victor requests.

Yuuri worries his bottom lip. It's dry and cracked from his lack of water. He thinks about the lake of cave water lying so close to him, but after walking through the cave, he has a good idea of what kind of leeway the cuffs give him. And they probably won't let him reach the water. At least, no more than his fingertips.

But wait - he's a Mage. Making a small vessel is actually quite easy. Why hadn’t he done thought of that earlier? Was it the head wound, or is Yuuri really that incompetent?

_"Give me a second. I need a drink,"_ he lets Victor know. It will also give him a few moments to collect his thoughts.

Victor's soft response of _"okay"_ , gives him the inner calm for long enough to pull a relevant spell from his memories and whisper it to the magic.

Where the rest of the cave feels stale - like the air in here is the same air that was here decades ago - the magic is fresh and flowing smoothly. It skirts around the edges of the water before flowing smoothly overtop, sometimes diverting around a rock, sometimes through it.

The small cup he produces is barely discernible - it's just a shadowy outline - nothing concrete. But it will hold water all the same. It takes a bit of maneuvering to scoot around so his arms are reaching out to the lake. It's a close call, really, his estimation wasn't far off - he can barely touch the water. But his cup does its job and soon he's drinking surprisingly cool, refreshing water. It doesn't taste stale at all.

It's a relief he doesn't have to rely on the stingy mouthfuls Leo grants him.

Victor's quiet for the few minutes it takes him. But he's right there when Yuuri's finally settled back in the most comfortable position he can find. If he knew a spell to create pillows, he would do it because the rock is unforgiving on his body. The only time he’s been this uncomfortable is when he and Phichit camped out on the moors.

_"Alright, so, the whole story?”_ Yuuri finally says. _“I heard them coming - just voices at first.”_

Victor hums in acknowledgement.

_"They know my name. But at that point I wasn’t sure if they knew I'm a Mage. So, just in case, I made sure the lights and flame were gone,"_ he tells Victor. He didn't know they knew who he was until later, but his decision to not show his magic was probably a good one.

_"Probably a good idea,"_ Victor agrees with him.

_"They unlocked my chains from the spot here and made me walk through the cave towards the entrance-"_

_"Did they take you outside?"_ Victor interrupts.

_"No,"_ Yuuri shakes his head, even if Victor can't see him. _"Just to another chamber. No water in that one. And it was about a twenty minute walk, although I couldn't tell you the distance - these restraints on my ankles restrict me a little too much."_

_"How much more cave do you think there is?"_ Victor asks.

Yuuri shrugs a little, _"Not much. I think the path through the cave ends where I am, so this might be as far as you can go. But the part they took me too was near the exit, I'm sure. There was a bit of sunlight and I could faintly hear some birds."_

Yuuri wants nothing more than to be one of those birds right now. Being chained up only makes him want the ability to fly. Has anyone ever tried a spell to do that? Probably not. It would be right at the edges of magic's ability, he's pretty sure. Gravity is difficult to manipulate.

_"Do you know where you are?"_ Victor asks.

_"No,"_ Yuuri tells him right away. _"No idea. I may have been close to outside, but I couldn't tell you anything other than that. Didn't see anything besides some light."_

There's a pause, then Victor asks him to continue.

_"There's two of them. Only two, I think. A Seer named Guang-Hong and another man called Leo."_

_"A Seer?"_ Victor sounds confused. _"Is the other man a magic user as well?"_

_"I don't think so,"_ Yuuri confesses.

_"I don't think I've ever heard of a Seer by that name,"_ Victor muses. _"But I'm kind of bad with names."_

_"It's okay,"_ Yuuri says. He didn't expect Victor to know them.

_"What do they want?"_

Yuuri bites his lip again. _"I thought they might be part of the war, you know, between Prix and Pax. Because that's all anyone cares about around here-"_

_"You're in Prix?"_ Victor sounds excited.

_"No. Well. Yes. Kind of,"_ Yuuri gets side-tracked. It's hard to explain. His hometown of Hasetsu has been part of both kingdoms over the years. _"The last I remember, I was travelling through Pax. In the forest near the border,"_ Yuuri admits.

_"The forest near the border..."_ Victor sounds a little dazed. _"Okay."_

Yuuri doubts he's near there anymore. He's never heard of a cave system anywhere near the forest he was in. He gets them back on track, quickly. _"Anyway, they said they didn't care about that kind of information. Not that I have that type of information anyway. They wanted to know about a Yokai."_

_"A Yokai?"_ Victor sounds confused. _"Right, I always forget about them. I guess I had to have learned about them when I was an apprentice, but I’ve forgotten it all by now. It’s not useful to a Mage, is it? So one could stand right in front of me and I’d never know."_

Yuuri laughs a little at that. Between not remembering names and forgetting about Yokai - something that's actually decently important in their world - he wonders if Victor isn't just totally forgetful.

_"Why would they care about a Yokai?"_ Victor asks the question Yuuri's been wondering.

_"I don't know. It's not like Yokai are altruistic or anything. Unless they're aiming to become a Spirit, they're usually pretty malicious. I wouldn't ask for help from one unless I had no other choice."_

_"Like now?"_ Victor asks. He's trying to sound light-hearted, but it comes across a little tense.

_"Not desperate enough for that,"_ Yuuri tells him truthfully. Yokai are a dangerous breed to mix with. Any help they might offer would come with too high a price. _"I'm more likely to get eaten than saved. Besides, I'm not just going to sit around and feel sorry for myself. I'll figure some way to get out of this."_

_"Yuuri,"_ Victor's voice sounds impossibly soft and kind. Almost reverent.

_"The problem is, the Seer says they saw I knew the Yokai,"_ Yuuri continues, ignoring the slight blush on his cheeks, _"but they must be a low-level Seer because I absolutely know nothing about it. Maybe their vision was wrong? If it is, I don't know how I'll convince them."_

_"They really didn't they say anything about the Yokai? What they want it for?"_

_"No. Just a name. Kashi."_ Yuuri waits for a second, to see if Victor responds to the name.

_"Never heard of it."_

_"They did say something about a revival..."_ Yuuri remembers. _"So... if it needs to be revived, it's already dead?"_

_"I suppose so,"_ Victor responds.

_"Well, if the Yokai is dead that means it didn't become a Spirit,"_ Yuuri muses. _"And for a Yokai to become a Spirit, the transformation requires benevolence. So that must mean this Yokai, Kashi, was evil."_ He tries to put it all together. Maybe if he knows the reason they want to revive the Yokai, then he can help offer them an alternative.

_"Hmmm,"_ Victor's hum reverberates across their bond. _"That doesn't bode well for you."_

_"No,"_ Yuuri agrees. _"And even worse, it sounds like they're calling a friend in. Someone who's probably not as squeamish about torture as Leo is-"_

_"Torture?"_ Victor interrupts him right away. _"Yuuri. Torture? Did they- did they torture you?"_

_"Ah,"_ Yuuri realises his slipup far too late. _"I mean. Yes, but I'm fine now. It wasn't too bad. I fixed the worst of it."_ He says it all quickly so Victor can't interrupt him again. Talking through just verbal alone is a little difficult without the usual visual cues a face-to-face conversation might give.

_"Yuuri, I'm so sorry,"_ Victor sounds genuinely upset. _"What did they-"_

_"Victor, please. I'd rather not talk about it. It's over. And if I can come up with a way to escape, or even a way to get them to believe I don't know anything about this Yokai, then it won't matter."_

_"But it does matter. Because they hurt you. And that's unforgivable."_

Yuuri swallows the lump in his throat. Victor doesn't even really know him and he cares about him? Is it just because he thinks they're soulmates? Even if it's based on a lie, Yuuri will take it. He doesn't have much of anyone that cares about him right now.

_"I'm working on the restraint problem,"_ Victor says after a few beats. _"I'll find a way to get you out of them, I promise. They can’t torture you again if you escape. I'm just... I've run into a few issues. I figured out how to get them open from the outside, I've been able to free my friend a couple times now. But I can't figure out how to do it if I'm the one cuffed. It's... I don't think I've worked with such a perplexing problem before. I won't give up, though, Yuuri. I've never failed, and I refuse to let this be the first time."_

_"Thank you,"_ Yuuri thinks as sincerely as he can. If this is what having a soulmate means, then Yuuri might be open to having one. No, it’s not even that. It’s Victor.

_“I was thinking…”_ Victor starts, _“it’s a long shot, but the water in the cave. There’s this spell I know that I’d like you to try. If you’re feeling up to it.”_

_“Sure, I guess,”_ Yuuri agrees. Victor’s spells have only helped him so far. He actually quite likes them. Mages will tend to gravitate towards certain spells, and it seems both he and Victor have similar tastes.

_“Can you reach the water in the cave?”_ Victor asks.

_“Yes. Barely.”_

_“Okay. Then I think it will work. It’s not the most precise spell because the interpretation is quite subjective, but hopefully it will give me a little more to work on.”_

_“What kind of spell?”_ Yuuri asks.

_“It’s meant to show the quality of water: whether it has any magical properties, and in some cases, it can show the current.”_

_“And you think this will help?”_ Yuuri’s a little confused.

_“Maybe. If it has any extraneous magical properties, you might be able to use it as a conduit to work on the cuffs from the outside. It’s the only workaround I’ve been able to think of so far. I don’t want to get your hopes up, of course, because it’s not guaranteed the water will have any properties-”_

_“Just give me the spell, Victor,”_ Yuuri says fondly.

_“Right. Okay,”_ Victor seems to realize he’s starting to go on a tangent again, and hesitates only a moment before he tells Yuuri the spell.

This one isn’t Victor’s usual kind of spell, is the first thing Yuuri thinks. It’s rough and jarring. It feels ancient. It’s very different from the flowing, practiced sounds he’s been given before. Moreover, the spell is more about transforming what is there; there’s very little ‘production’ to it, so it’s right on the fringe of what kind of spells a Mage should be doing.

Victor must sense his hesitation because he adds, _“it’s an old spell, I know. But it does the trick. I don’t think anything I could produce would be as effective. Sometimes it doesn’t have to be flowery to do the job right.”_

But Yuuri isn’t so sure. His relationship with magic has always been strained. He’s always had to work. He’s spent so many hours practicing it, living it, breathing it, and still sometimes he finds it difficult. He wonders if it will continue to be difficult for the rest of his life. He’s sure it’s because of his anxiety.

Magic works best if it’s allowed to flow freely through the user. When Yuuri’s tense, the magic has to force its way through him. It likes to take the path of least resistance, and that’s almost never through a user. And his anxiety, his self-consciousness, has always made him a deterrent for magic. When he can put that aside, he finds it flows easily around and through him.

Spells make a lot of difference for him. If they’re smooth and can lubricate the flow of magic, it’s more likely to listen to him. When they’re rough, like the spell Victor’s given him, it agitates the magic, making it roll and boil. When it’s disturbed, it likes the rough passage through him even less.

Usually he’d at least try a spell like this (where _did_ Victor get this spell from? An ancient text?), but not while he’s in this sorry state. He doesn’t have a calm centre right now. He wishes he did, but he’s not surprised. He’s under duress. He shouldn’t expect himself to be calm.

_“It’s fine, Yuuri, I promise. Look, I’ll try it myself now-”_ Yuuri can hear Victor pronounce the spell through their connection again, but this time it’s accompanied by a tingle of magic, like somehow the magic he’s using to do it wherever he is trickling through their bond as well. _“See, it’s fine,”_ Victor pronounces.

_“You do remember I can’t see anything, right?”_ Yuuri can’t help reminding him.

Victor lets out laughter that, surprisingly, comes across their connection. _“Well, you’ll just have to take my word on it, then.”_

_“What did you use it on?”_ Yuuri asks, _“a stream?”_

_“Oh, no. I’m in my study. I used it on my cup of tea. No magical properties, I’m afraid.”_

Yuuri can’t help but smile a little to himself. _“That’s good, I suppose.”_

_“A little extra magic wouldn’t go amiss,”_ Victor teases. _“Come on Yuuri, stop stalling. Use the spell.”_

If Victor’s insisting… Yuuri supposes he can try it. It worked okay for Victor. He tries not to tell himself that Victor seems to be a powerful Mage and he probably wouldn’t have trouble with many spells. So, while he still has Victor’s warm laughter ringing in his head and before he loses his nerve, he repeats the spell.

He was right - it is rough. The magic flickers against him, like it wants to resist, but then it submits to the spell and obeys. Not as bad as he thought it might go. His fingertips glow for a second before he stretches as far forward as he can manage and dips them into the cave water.

From his fingertips, the glow spreads outwards across the water. But not just outwards, but down as well. It moves like ink in the water, but instead of dark swirls, it’s golden light. It tumbles in long strings and plums of abstract shapes, gold threads floating and twisting with purpose. It shifts through the water in a way that’s reminiscent of how Yuuri feels the magic move in the air around him - expanding and diffusing through the pool until the entirety of the water is lit.

The lake is fairly deep and stretches quite far out. The shallow edges are a bright gold that transitions to a teal, then a deep sapphire blue as it gets deeper towards the centre. It looks ice cold, yet so warm. The strangest contradiction: just like the roughness of the spell that produces something so beautiful. The light from the water shines up and casts interesting shadows on the stalactites with a warm golden hue. To Yuuri, it’s reminiscent of golden afternoon sunlight streaming through leaves. There are barely any ripples on the water surface, just the remnants of where his finger had disturbed the surface.

_“What does it look like?”_ Victor’s voice comes in soft in Yuuri’s head.

_“Beautiful,”_ Yuuri can’t help but think.

_“I was hoping for something a little more useful,”_ Victor teases. _“What colour is the water? I have a guide here to help classify.”_

_“It’s a blue. Like on the ocean.”_

_“Can you be more specific? There’s a lot of different blue’s in this list…”_

Yuuri scrunches his nose as he thinks. _“Um. A cerulean in the shallow parts. And maybe a cobalt in the middle?”_

_“Hmmm,”_ Victor hums.

_“And it’s gold at the edges,”_ Yuuri adds, because that’s probably important.

_“Oh! Really? That’s good!”_ Victor sounds excited. _“That’s apparently a sign of magical qualities. I might be able to use that… Does the gold go anywhere? Is there something that looks like a stream of gold in the water?”_

Yuuri stares into the water. _“...No,”_ he says hesitantly.

_“Mmmn,”_ Victor hums again.

_“Why?”_ Yuuri is a little afraid to ask.

_“Oh. It might show the water’s source. I was hoping that maybe we could find a river or something for an escape route.”_

_“Oh.”_ Yuuri’s a little upset he doesn’t have the option, but it’s not like he could use an exit when he’s chained up like this. Besides, he wasn’t thinking there might be any other exit to the cave besides the main route. If he can get out of the cuffs, he thinks he might be able to take Guang-Hong and Leo. He’s a Mage, so he’s well-versed in confrontation magic. And up against a Seer and a soldier, in top form, there’s no competition.

_“But don’t worry,”_ Victor’s voice is chipper, _“we’ll just have you get out the front instead. It’s more dramatic anyway.”_

Yuuri wants to tell Victor ‘thank you’ again, but he feels like he’s done that too many times already. _“How do you think the water might help?”_ He asks instead.

_“Oh, well. Magic-resistant cuffs are supposed to resist magic, right? So maybe instead of using magic through you, I was thinking that using magic through another medium like water, might work instead.”_

Yuuri understands where Victor’s coming from, and he thinks that the water might actually be useful, but not for the reason Victor’s offered. _“Well, water is a good choice, then.”_

Victor hums in agreement. _“Well, it’s what we have available.”_

_“It’s more than that,”_ Yuuri can’t help but correct. _“Magic-resistant metals are made with three disciplines of magic, right?”_

_“... They are?”_ Victor sounds confused.

Yuuri’s read a lot. Although he does prefer to work on his spells over and over until he’s completely confident in them. But he’s done the work. He’s put in the effort. He knows he knows more than most Mages. _“Yes. They’re made with Mage, Witch, and Healer magic. It’s why they’re so hard to break. A Seer might be able to break them, but Seers are generally not dangerous enough to warrant magical restraints. And the element associated with a Seer is-”_

_“Water,”_ Victor finishes for him. They are the counterpart to a Mage’s fire. It’s why Yuuri doesn’t usually get along with Seers he’s met. It’s also why he and Phichit, a Healer, get along so well. _“Well, I guess that might make things easier.”_

_“Maybe,”_ Yuuri agrees. _“Any ideas yet?”_

_“...No.”_ Victor admits. _“But I’ll think of it, don’t worry. I could… I could work on it now, if you don’t mind?”_

Yuuri doesn’t want Victor to stop talking to him. He knows he’s being selfish, and getting out of these cuffs is the most important thing they can do. But still…

_“I could talk to you as I work?”_ Victor suggests in Yuuri’s silence. _“If you don’t mind me rambling again. I know you fell asleep last time.”_

Yuuri does actually smile then. _“I’d like that,”_ he says. _“I’ll listen to you as long as I can. You just have a very soothing voice.”_

_“Perfect,”_ Yuuri can hear the smile in Victor’s voice too.

* * *

He ends up listening to Victor talk for hours. He doesn’t have much to offer himself. Victor’s far chattier than he is, and that’s fine. He doesn’t know what he’d talk about. Talking about his family, Phichit, or his life goals is only going to make him yearn more to get out of this cave. Listening to Victor tell him about his friends, about how he came up with some of his favourite spells, about the things he’s trying, is better than background noise. It’s calming.

He still ends up adding his own anecdotes where he can, and preens when Victor laughs over a couple of them. He even tries to offer some advice and support on the magic Victor is trying if something he’s saying twigs a detail Yuuri can remember from his texts. Victor even takes his suggestions seriously, praising him when something fits in with whatever he’s doing.

Yuuri can still hear Victor fading, however. Controlling magic isn’t easy, and it does require both physical and mental prowess. The exhaustion may not seep into muscles as quickly as physical exertion would, but it does drain you mentally. Yuuri knows from experience - it takes a lot of cognitive stamina to use magic. After a few hours Victor sounds lethargic, and his thoughts slip in and out near the end, like he can barely hold onto their connection.

Yuuri doesn’t begrudge Victor for it. He just holds onto Victor’s fading voice until it flickers out of his mind. He’s left in silence again, and the spell he used on the water seems to have faded fairly quickly. The gold at the edges is now just a dull sheen and the blue has deepened and darkened to where he almost can’t see the bottom of the lake anymore. He figures another two or three hours and the light will be all but gone. He doesn’t bother to refresh it.

It’s about five hours later, after Yuuri’s been sitting in the dark, trying spells of his own on the cuffs, (nothing too extreme because he doesn’t want to be weak if his captors come for him again) that he hears voices again. He once again cuts off the magic that’s been working through him - the blue flame that’s been keeping him company extinguishing in puff.

It’s Leo that returns. He’s alone. Yuuri wonders if he might be able to surprise the man when he unlocks his cuffs from the ground. He won’t be able to run, but if he knocks Leo out, then maybe he might be able to sneak past Guang-Hong, or at least stand a proper fighting chance.

But Leo has come prepared, apparently. He’s not holding the light-orb that Guang-Hong was using before. He just has a flaming torch. Yuuri can see the rope from before hanging in loops off his arm. He also gets a couple glimpses of the curves of Leo’s face under his hood. He looks young.

“You’re not going to struggle, right?” Leo sounds both uninterested and also pissed off. Yuuri wonders what’s happened.

“I don’t know anything,” he tries to say again.

Leo sighs. “We’ll find out for sure soon. Guang-Hong is talking with Seung-Gil, so it’s just me to collect you. I’ve been authorized to use as much force as necessary to keep you from escaping. Do you have any limbs you’re not fond of?” He threatens.

Yuuri still struggles when Leo leans down and roughly grabs his wrists to tie them together. He gets strung up with his wrists in front of him, but they’re also tied into the connected chains at his ankles. When he stands, he realizes that Leo’s made the lead between his wrists and feet too short on purpose. He has to hunch over to keep the strain on his wrists to a minimum.

He could burn the rope, he’s sure. But that will probably only leave him with swift retribution, and these restraints still feel like they’re dampening his magic. He probably won’t be quick enough, or strong enough right now, to fend off a close-range attack from Leo’s sword. He doesn’t doubt Leo knows how to use it effectively. Even if he’d been hesitant about using his dagger on Yuuri earlier, he’d still done it with the grace of someone well-versed in handling a blade.

The walk through the cave is even more slow-going than the first time. Leo doesn’t complain, though, just walks behind him silently the whole way, torch lifted high enough they can both see the path. Yuuri’s glad that Leo doesn’t have his hand on his neck this time around.

His whole body is stiff by the time they make it the chamber again. Guang-Hong is there, sitting on the same boulder as he was last time. But this time there’s another figure with him. One without a robe.

The man, whom Yuuri assumes is Seung-Gil, is standing in plain clothes - britches, boots, and a loose tunic. He’s void of the robe the other two have been sporting, so when he turns to look at them, his face is in full view.

He’s rather handsome, if Yuuri’s honest, with a svelte body and short, stunning black luscious hair. He is taller than Leo, probably around Yuuri’s height if he wasn’t hunched over, and he’s probably not too much younger than Yuuri, judging by the softness in his jawline. His eyes, however, are as black as his hair. And they’re cold. Calculating. One glance and Yuuri can feel the shiver run up his spine.

He knows Seung-Gil is not someone he can mess with.

“Sloppy rope work,” he chides Leo and nods towards the battered chair he was placed in last time.

Yuuri can see some of his dried blood on the wooden seat and he’s vividly reminded of what happened to him last time he was here. The shiver up his spine only increases until his hands are shaking. He’s scared. He didn’t feel this badly last time, even with Leo having done what he did. But something about the way Seung-Gil’s eyes narrow while looking at him makes him realize this won’t be like last time.

He’s forced into the chair and chained back to the ground, and then his hands are re-tied behind his back, this time with a little more precision.

Seung-Gil runs his eyes appraisingly over Yuuri’s shaking form. “I don’t see why you couldn’t have just taken him back to the guild,” he says to Guang-Hong. “He doesn’t look like a threat at all.”

“Because we were told to use discretion,” Leo says from behind Yuuri.

“Is that why you’re wearing those ridiculous robes?” He asks.

“It’s to protect our identity,” Leo says harshly.

Seung-Gil scoffs. Apparently he has no reason to fear retribution from Yuuri, should he ever escape.

“And you’re just going to let him go afterwards? Don’t be ridiculous. Take them off. It’s bothersome for me,” Seung-Gil demands of them.

They obey. Guang-Hong slides his hood back over his head. Yuuri can’t help but gape at him. He looks impossibly young. Much too young to be part of a torture-plot like this. He’s got a soft look to him, and if he hadn’t been there for Yuuri’s last ‘session’, he never would have believed him to be capable of violence. He looks innocent. Maybe that’s why Leo’s here to protect him.

He turns to look at Leo as he walks around Yuuri’s chair to stand by his partner. He looks just as young, although he has a few silver scars on his face that suggest he’s seen his fair share of battles in his few years. He’s got thick eyebrows that offset slanted eyes. Yuuri can see the hesitation in both them.

Seung-Gil grabs him by the chin and turns his face so Yuuri’s looking straight at him. All thoughts about the reluctance of his captors fades in the shrewd look the dark-haired man gives him.

“My name is Seung-Gil, and you _will_ tell me what I need to know. I don’t have time to be playing around like these two. You will tell me the information we are seeking.”

Well. That doesn’t sound good. He keeps quiet, dreading what Seung-Gil might do if he says he doesn’t know anything about what they want.

“You do know what information that is, right, Yuuri Katsuki?”

Yuuri swallows heavily. “They mentioned it before, yes,” he says out loud. His voice is hoarse with disuse. He’s been speaking to Victor through his mind only.

“I’d like you to tell me in your own words, then,” Seung-Gil asks.

Yuuri can see both Guang-Hong and Leo look away from him, and he wonders what’s going to happen they don’t want to see. “Something about a Yokai. Named Kashi,” he answers.

“Good,” Seung-Gil croons, fingers tightening on Yuuri’s jaw until it hurts. He’s then abruptly released as Seung-Gil spins around, back to Yuuri. “My _partners_ ,” he says the word as if it’s a fowl curse, “informed me of your reluctance when first asked. I’ll give you the option now to provide the information without harm to your person. I would suggest you are forthcoming with what you know as you will not receive such a generous opportunity again.”

Yuuri looks between Seung-Gil and the turned away figures of Guang-Hong and Leo. They’re holding hands. He wonders what he’s supposed to say. He can’t offer any information because he doesn’t _know_ anything. He knows a lot about magic, a lot about Mages, and a lot about the history of the Twelve Kingdoms. But he’s severely lacking when it comes to Yokai and Spirits.

But he’s truly frightened by what Seung-Gil will do if he doesn't just spill everything. “What exactly do you want to know,” Yuuri finally decides to say. It’s not an admission to being ignorant of the Yokai, but he knows it’s not really an answer either.

Seung-Gil looks over his shoulder at Yuuri. “Everything,” he says.

“I-” Yuuri hesitates. “I’d tell you if I could, really-” he starts.

“That’s not the answer I want, Yuuri,” Seung-Gil warns.

“But I’ve never heard of a Yokai called Kashi!” Yuuri says frantically. “I swear. I haven’t. You must have mistaken me for someone-” He’s cut off when guttural groan leaves his mouth in response to a wave of pain racing up his body. It’s like paraesthesia, but more intense.

Seung-Gil’s hand is outstretched towards him, sparks of white magic flickering around his head like a crown. A witch. A WITCH.

Yuuri should have known his luck could only get worse.

“You’re a Mage, aren’t you, Yuuri,” Seung-Gil asks.

“Yes,” Yuuri says weakly. “And you’re a Witch,” he can’t help but point out the obvious.

“I am. So, you know what I’m capable of.”

Yuuri nods. If there was anyone being the most capable of extracting information, through torture or not, it would be a Witch. Their ability to manipulate mental states, to mess with a person’s mind, to inflict pain without physical touch, to bolster or tear down another magic-user's abilities, has always terrified Yuuri. He knows he’s not mentally strong. He’s got too much anxiety - too many self-doubts - for a Witches magic to be anything less than fully effective on him.

“Now, Yuuri,” Seung-Gil says, leaning in close to him again, “you’re going to tell me everything I want, or this will become infinitely more painful for you. And if the pain doesn’t make you cooperate, I have ways of pulling the information out of your mind as well. All you need to know is I _will_ get what I want. It just depends how much you’re willing to put up with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that was a bit more of a cliffhanger than I expected. Having a Witch interrogate him is probably Yuuri’s worst nightmare. Poor guy. Not going to lie, next chapter probably isn’t going to be fun for anyone. We’re coming up on the end of Book1 soon, though. (Does anyone have anything they’d super love to see in Book2?) 
> 
> In other news, please look out for a Christmassy Victuuri one-shot on Wednesday (I’m hoping to have it finished for then). I promise it’s going to be super cute. And of course, there will most likely be another chapter of this on Thursday.


	6. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so happy to hear how you guys are enjoying this story. I know this isn’t my usual fare, especially since it’s starting off a little dark (literally and figuratively?), so I’m super excited that you’re sticking with it! Warms my heart!
> 
> ATTENTION: Three big things.
> 
> 1\. I want to remind people of the tags. Rating is at M now, just to be VERY safe.
> 
> 2\. Look at the tags again. There’s one that says ‘NO actual death’, and I want to reiterate that. (Slight spoiler:) There is mention in the middle of this chapter that Phichit has died. He hasn’t. I don’t mind you guys knowing this ahead of time, and before he shows up again. His return is not meant to be a surprise to anyone but Yuuri.
> 
> 3\. If you’re not one for the torture stuff, there are two ‘ * ’ that mark where you can skip. (One * to mark where to stop reading, and then another * to mark when it’s safe again.) There’s a bit of plot between those, but you’ll catch it later if you decide to skip it. (And I totally understand if you want to.) I still tried to keep it as tame as I could, but that’s difficult. :S
> 
> Here we go!

Yuuri doesn’t remember how he was returned to the back cave. He’s there now, but he feels beyond weak. He can’t even gather himself enough to produce a fire again. So he sits in the cold, damp, and dark and tries not to cry. 

Seung-Gil didn’t touch him. He didn’t have to. That’s the ‘beauty’ of a Witches power. The ability to manipulate and hurt without physical touch. He’s always thought that Witches are far more capable of iniquity than any other magic user, specifically because they deal with the human mind. 

It’s not that Yuuri dislikes Witches, really. He understands why their magic is important, and how it can be used to help people. But he also knows how terribly it can be used when the wielder has no regard for the sanctity of human independence. 

Seung-Gil hadn’t been kind. At first, he’d been generous in doling out pain. Probably hoping that Yuuri would cave (ha.) under promise of torment. But Yuuri is no stranger to pain. He’s gotten through worse before. His spells have backfired on him enough times, magic has been recalcitrant to his wishes many more, that he knows how to withstand pain. And because it’s a Witch producing the pain, it’s easy enough for Yuuri to tell himself ‘it’s all in your head’, because that’s what it is. There’s no actual physical cause to the pain. Just Seung-Gil tricking his mind into thinking there is. But it’s hard to overcome that. He’s definitely not that in control of his own mind, but he’d been able to push through it. 

Things had deteriorated from there when it became obvious to Seung-Gil that pain wasn’t producing the response he wanted. He’d switched tactics - trying to forcefully pull the information from Yuuri’s mind. Yuuri knows how difficult and draining magic like that can be. Human minds aren’t meant to be forced. His captors must be desperate if they’re trying to find the information that way. 

While it’s exhausting magic for Seung-Gil, it’s infinitely more draining for Yuuri. He doesn’t remember most of it. He does remember pain. But not pain like before. More like a mix between a migraine and mental anguish. Seung-Gil had pulled memories from him he’d thought he’d forgotten. 

The joy of discovering magic for the first time. The grief of his familiar, Vicchan, dying much too early. The melancholy of leaving home at a young age. The desperation from when Phichit and he had been travelling woefully unprepared. The anxiety at asking Celestino to take them on as apprentices. The reverence as he learned to understand and speak to magic. The pride at becoming a Mage. 

All of it had been brought forward. It had mingled. It felt like his emotions had all been muddled and switched. It felt like nothing was put back in the right place. Joy at leaving his family behind? No. It couldn’t be. Desperation when learning magic? Probably not. Melancholy when he became a Mage. Why would he? Anxiety when he learned Vicchan had died. Possibly? He’s not sure anymore. 

He feels like he’s been stretched far too thin, but also shoved so full of old memories he doesn’t know what to do or how to sort them out.  _ THIS _ is a Witches power, and what Yuuri’s always dreaded. 

He assumes that Seung-Gil stopped because he was tired, and also, perhaps, because he hadn’t been able to find anything about a Yokai. Yuuri can’t give him what he doesn’t have. He wonders how far Seung-Gil will be willing to go before he accepts defeat. Will he ever accept Yuuri doesn’t know anything about the Yokai?

His head is pounding and his thoughts are all scattered. He knows he's in no shape to try magic, even if he would feel comforted by the small blue flame he's come to love. Seung-Gil has been more effective in constraining his magic than the cuffs have been. 

He doesn't know how long he lays there in the dark. It must be hours. He drifts in and out of consciousness. He's awoken every few minutes by the throbbing in his head. It's like his mind is trying to rearrange things. Almost as if someone's come into his room and pulled everything out of the drawers, pulled all the books off the shelves, thrown his clothes on the floor, rumpled his bedsheets, and left the tap running. Now, his mind is trying to carefully, cautiously, to put everything back in its proper place. It just takes time. 

By the time he feels like he isn't going to throw up (although he hasn't eaten in days) at the slightest movement, his thoughts have stopped swirling and are more reminiscent of big swells on the ocean. Not calm. But not rolling in a storm of unease. 

_ "Victor?" _ He tries to call out through whatever connection they have. He knows he's coming to rely on Victor too much. But he doesn't have anyone else. 

_ "Yuuri?" _ Victor responds, sounding a little dazed. 

_ "Victor, they have a WITCH," _ Yuuri tells him right away. 

_ "A witch?" _ Victor immediately sounds more alert. 

_ "He tried to pull the information out of my mind," _ Yuuri tells him, beginning to properly cry this time. 

There's silence on Victor's end for a few minutes and Yuuri sobs, wondering if he's yet again lost his connection to Victor. He doesn't know if he'll make it through another round with Seung-Gil if he doesn't have Victor's support. 

_ "Stay strong, Yuuri," _ Victor's voice finally comes back to him.  _ "I promise I'll get you out of there, no matter what." _ Victor's voice has always sounded so calm and smooth. It's nothing compared to this: the cold, firm voice of someone so sure of themselves. 

Just the tone alone makes Yuuri hope. He believes Victor. Victor will help him out of here. He will. He has too. Otherwise, how will they ever meet each other? They're soulmates. How can one of them live without the other? He has to see Victor. 

_ "Please, help me," _ he implores. He knows his voice trembling, even though it's just in his head. 

_ "I will, Yuuri. What do you need?" _ Victor replies right away. 

_ "I need to get out of here. The chains, Victor. How do I-" _

_ "I don't know yet," _ Victor sounds frustrated.  _ "I've been working on it. But it's difficult. If I had the time, I could figure it out. But you don't have that luxury. If only I could-" _ Victor cuts off with a gasp that Yuuri hears. 

_ "What?" _ Yuuri calls out, worried. He props himself up on his elbows, as if his actions here will have some kind of bearing on wherever Victor is. 

_ "If I can't help you from here," _ Victor says with an awed tone, almost like he's had a breakthrough moment,  _ "then I'll just come to you." _

_ "What? No." _ Yuuri immediately denies him.  _ "You can't." _

_ “Why not?” _ Victor says quickly.  _ "It makes sense. I can open the cuffs from the outside. It cuts out a step entirely." _

_ "But you-" _

Victor cuts him off.  _ "Besides, it's not like I was going to help you escape and then never speak to you again. I was always planning on finding you, Yuuri. It'll just be earlier than expected." _

_ "But you don't even know where I am," _ he panics.  _ "I don't even know where I am." _

_ "I haven't been idle, Yuuri," _ Victor tells him proudly.  _ "I've been gathering information on cave systems. Specifically, near the forest region in Pax you mentioned. There are a few options. If I can narrow them down..." _

Yuuri's eyes burst with fresh tears. Victor's going through all this trouble, been working so hard, to help him. Help Yuuri. He's never done anything to deserve someone like that. 

Soulmates. He reminds himself. Could Victor really be his soulmate? Or is it just because Victor thinks soulmates exist that he's working so hard? Could Yuuri ever live up to Victor's ideal of what a soulmate is supposed to be? 

_ "...There's only five that seem promising," _ Victor says over their connection, ignorant to Yuuri's worries.  _ "It will take me awhile to travel there, but if I systematically check each one, then I'll have to find you eventually, right?" _

_ "But you don't know if I'm still in that area," _ Yuuri reminds him desperately, even if he wants nothing more than for Victor to come save him. 

_ "No," _ Victor agrees, _ "but you're my soulmate. There's nothing that can keep us apart. I'm sure whatever direction I head, it will always lead to you." _

He wants to believe so badly, he does. He wants to believe that Victor can find him, no matter what, that their connection is so strong that he'll be brought straight to Yuuri. But he's rational. He knows better. 

_ "Even if you do find me," _ he can't help but say,  _ "there are still three people in your way. I don't want you to get hurt for my sake." _ He has to say it. He has to make Victor understand that his life isn't worth Yuuri's. 

_ "I told you, Yuuri. Nothing is going to stop me from getting to you. Not distance. Not a cave. And certainly not a Witch. I can handle myself. I've taken down Witches before. And this time, I have even more incentive. They've hurt you." _

Yuuri can't stop crying. He doesn't deserve this. He's sure he doesn't.  _ "Victor." _ He doesn't know how to put what he's feeling into words, but he hopes Victor understands anyway. 

And then, the worst possible thing that could happen, does. Because he's been sitting in the dark for so long, it's easy to recognize the light coming towards him. They're coming back for him. 

_ "Victor!" _ He cries though the bond.  _ "They're here again." _

_ "Yuuri, stay calm," _ Victor tries to coach him.  _ "You can't stop them right now. Not like this. You can talk to me without speaking out loud, like I do, yes?" _

_ "Yes," _ Yuuri thinks, watching as the light grows closer. It looks like it's Leo and Guang-Hong again. No Seung-Gil. 

_ "Then, you're going to describe everything you see to me. How narrow the cave is. How many steps you take. The types of rocks. The different formations. Everything." _

_ "Okay," _ Yuuri accepts. He supposes every bit of information might help Victor narrow down where he is. 

_ "I'll be with you the whole time. The Witch can try whatever they want, but I'll be here, okay? They can't take away this." _

The thought of Victor being there, supporting him, eases his panic a little. But he doesn't know if their connection will be impervious to Seung-Gil's magic. And if his memories get pulled on, his mind prodded, he doesn't know if he'll be able to talk to Victor at all. 

He's quiet as yet again Leo ties him up with rope before letting Guang-Hong unlock his chains. 

"If you'd just tell us, Yuuri, then we wouldn't have to do this," Guang-Hong say in a quiet voice. 

"Nothing is worth this, is it?" Leo asks when Yuuri doesn't respond. "No Yokai, no person, no power is worth what we have to do to you, is it?" He asks in just a quiet voice as Guang-Hong.

"We don't want to do this, Yuuri," Guang-Hong says, hood pushed back, light glinting off his eyes and young features. Yuuri believes they don't want to do it. But they are. So he feels no sympathy. 

They don't say anything else as they lead him back through the cave system. Yuuri keeps a running commentary to Victor, describing even the smallest thing; from the light 'plink' sound of water dripping onto wet stone to the size of the pathways they squeeze through. 

Victor only responds with humming noises to show he's still listening, letting Yuuri talk. It at least keeps his mind off of what's to come. He does his best to describe as much as he can of the last chamber, but he doesn't get very far when he sees Seung-Gil. 

That cold dread fills him again at the look in his eyes. He looks tired, yes, but also determined. Like he spent his time calculating and problem-solving instead of sleeping. 

Yuuri's tied to the chair again. He tells Victor about it. How they're tying him. How his wrists are a raw red. How the pain is nothing compared to what the Witch can do. Victor tries to soothe him: tells him that he'll be there, that Yuuri can survive this, that he's coming for him. 

It doesn't matter when Seung-Gil starts. *

He doesn't know if his screams translate over the connection to Victor. He wonders if Victor's hearing any of it at all. Or if maybe he's hearing the memories Seung-Gil is pulling out of him. 

Victor's voice floats in and out, but Yuuri can’t concentrate on it enough to understand what he’s saying. He wishes he could. He wants Victor’s comforting voice in his head, telling him it’s going to be alright. Because right now he doesn’t believe it will be. 

Every single horrible, terrifying, miserable moment he’s ever experienced is pulled to the forefront of his mind. He tries to not resist the pull of Witch magic, hoping that if he allows it to work it won’t hurt as much. It still hurts. 

It’s as if his anxiety, his self-doubts, everything that’s made him feel insecure, is being shown to him, and then compounding on itself; crushing him. 

His second time using magic, when he’d tried to pronounce the unpronounceable without knowing how to read the spells in the book he’d stolen, and how it had backfired and ripped shreds out of his forearm. 

The time he'd worked up the courage to tell Yuuko he admired her, and perhaps, since they were friends, maybe they might date, only to be told that she and Takeshi had been betrothed to each other since birth. He remembers the shame of having never known, having put himself out there, and of the pitying look Yuuko had given him while trying to offer words of support. 

All the winks, leers, and jests he received after the one night he'd gotten beyond drunk and had made a fool of himself. The same night he'd shared a night of passion (he presumes) with a lovely Prix soldier that had been passing through town. The embarrassment at everyone having known how he'd allowed his inhibitions free. The cold, empty bed beside him in the morning where he'd been sure a handsome man should have been. 

His years of preparation to become a Mage, hours of studying and practicing for his first exam under the tutelage of Celestino that culminated in a failure and being told he still wasn't ready for anything more important than a lowly 'apprentice' title. 

His utterly ridiculous crush and full-blown veneration of the most powerful Mage the Twelve Kingdoms had seen in decades, Victor Nikiforov, who was so out of his league that even the fantasy of meeting him brought a blush of shame to Yuuri's cheeks. And then the subsequent proof that Yuuri really would never capture Victor's attention, no matter how much he dreamed to meet Victor on the battlefield as an equal, as Victor rode past him on the road amongst his colleagues and didn't even meet his gaze when Yuuri called out to him, only hoping to at least tell him what an inspiration he'd been - how he'd decided to become a Mage because of him. Completely invisible. 

Victor. 

There is a Victor that cares for him, though. His soulmate. The Victor that's out there right now, searching for him. And that's what pulls him out of the memories Seung-Gil is tearing from him. 

He can see Seung-Gil panting, hand outstretched towards Yuuri. The sparks of magic around him die down as they meet each other's eyes. 

"Anything?" Leo asks from off to the side. 

"No," Seung-Gil has a stoic look on his face, but Yuuri can see the burning anger in his eyes. He's not used to failing. And Yuuri still hasn't given them anything about the Yokai. 

He wonders why, after so many failures, they're still so adamant to believe Guang-Hong's Seer magic. At this point they should be asking their companion to use his magic to re-confirm his 'prophecy'. But they haven't asked anything of him - he's just sat watching proceedings. 

"I need your help, Leo," Seung-Gil says, stepping back for a moment and stretching. Yuuri can see the tired lines around his eyes and the exhausted slump of his shoulders. 

"What do you need?" Leo touches his dagger on his hip, his own expression blank and seemingly uninterested. There's a tension in the air, however, that tells Yuuri none of them are taking this lightly at all. 

"He's doing a good job of resisting," Seung-Gil says after taking a drink from a carafe that's sitting by Guang-Hong.

Yuuri wishes he could have had time to get his own drink back in the cave because he's still parched. And ridiculously hungry, but that's easier to ignore. 

"I was thinking that if perhaps we lowered his defences, and showed him that what's awaiting him isn't just pain, but death-" he steals a glance over at Yuuri to emphasize his point, "-then maybe he might be more forthcoming."

"How would you get the information from me if I'm dead," Yuuri tries to press back. If they're that invested in the information, then they won't kill him for it, right?

Seung-Gil raises an eyebrow and allows himself a slight smirk. “Yuuri, you’re one of many options. We’ve failed in many before. It won’t be a set-back if we fail here now. I’d just rather succeed is all.”

Yuuri’s mouth, if possible, goes even drier. “But I don’t know-”

“Stop lying,” Seung-Gil says harshly. “If you doubt my resolve, you should ask your friend.”

“My… friend?” For a moment, Yuuri thinks Seung-Gil is talking about Victor, because there isn’t anyone here he can ask, but how would he know- OH. (Oh.) Phichit. His friend, that these people separated him from. “Phichit?” He asks tentatively, panic about what they’ve done to him rising. 

“Whatever his name is, yes. The Healer.” Seung-Gil confirms. “Although, I suppose you can’t ask him. He’s much too far away from you now, Yuuri. If you don’t ‘know anything’, then perhaps I should cut my losses now and send you to meet him?”

Yuuri can’t breathe. He can’t. There’s not enough air in this cave for three people. There’s not enough air for him to process what they’ve just told him. They’ve killed Phichit. Killed him. His best friend. His companion. The one person he has no doubts about. The one person who really, truly, cares about him. Dead. 

There’s nothing left to fight for, then. What point is there in fighting when even Phichit won’t be there if he escapes. Why should he-

_ “Yuuri?”  _ Victor’s voice flows, panicked, into his mind.  _ “Are you still there?” _

_ “Victor,” _ he responds, staring at the far wall of the cave, not really seeing anything.  _ “They killed him.” _

_ “Killed who?” _ Victor asks, still sounding panicked instead of the calm Yuuri’s used to.

_ “My friend. Phichit. The Healer. My FRIEND. Victor. He’s dead. And they’re going to kill me next.” _

_ “Yuuri, no, Yuuri, shhhh,” _ Victor tries to soothe, but Yuuri can hear the alarm in his voice. He can’t calm down, even with Victor’s voice in his head.

He sees Seung-Gil and Leo approach. Leo’s looking away from him, like he’s ashamed to be part of what’s next. Yuuri thinks he knows what’s next and figures he’d probably look more sheepish than that if he was being ordered to kill someone.

“Leo, his neck, please,” Seung-Gil directs. 

Leo stands behind him, out of Yuuri sightline. He’s probably trying to disconnect himself from the act. Seung-Gil has no such qualms. He stands steady right in Yuuri’s center of vision, eye contact full and devastating. He sparks with magic again, diving back into Yuuri’s mind. 

Leo’s fingers on Yuuri’s throat are warm and firm. 

And then more firm. 

And although he’s had panic attacks where he can’t breathe, just had one in fact, this is different. It’s so much more real. It’s real fingers against his windpipe. The crushing feeling on his throat. The spots in his vision. The squeezing weight in his head. The wheezing, gasping, can’t-get-air, choking feeling. The all-consuming panic of being so near death. 

_ “I’m going to die,” _ Yuuri echoes one of the first things he said to Victor. 

_ “You’re not,” _ Victor says firmly. _ “You’re going to survive this. And I’m going to find you. I’m on my way right now. You have to make it through. Because you’re mine, Yuuri. My soulmate. And we’re destined to be together.” _

_ “Soulmate,” _ Yuuri thinks, dazed. It echoes in his head. He can’t think of anything else. There’s just not enough oxygen getting to his brain to form any coherent thoughts. 

* And then it all stops. 

He draws in shuddering gasp after gasp of air, his vision slowly clearing from grey back to full colour. The whooshing in his ears tells him the blood is finally flowing back in his head with full force, and the tingling in his arms dissipate as his body tries to return to homeostasis. 

He’s still wheezing and drawing in large gulps of air when he notices Seung-Gil’s expression, and it hits him - they  _ stopped _ . 

_ “Yuuri? Yuuri! YUURI!” _ Victor’s voice is the last thing that filters back in. 

He ignores Victor for a moment, trying to push the connection to a murmur in his mind so he can focus on what’s happening in front of him. Why did they stop? Did he get the elusive information about the Yokai somehow? But why would Seung-Gil look so stunned?

“He said ‘soulmate’,” Guang-Hong says quietly from behind Seung-Gil. “Did you see a soulmate connection in his mind?”

"Victor?" Seung-Gil asks Yuuri, ignoring his companion, magic sparking through the wavy locks of his hair. Leo’s shifts behind him.

Yuuri doesn’t respond - he’s not sure if his throat can manage it. 

“Your soulmate is Victor?” Seung-Gil asks, looking like he wants to reach forward and demand Yuuri answer, but is also too scared to touch him. 

Yuuri wants to tell him that soulmates don’t exist. But if the idea he might have a soulmate out for revenge or penitence, is what’s stopping him, then Yuuri isn’t going to dissuade him.

“Victor?” Guang-Hong asks quietly. Yuuri can see their eyes flash with magic. It’s followed by a soft, whispered, almost reverent, “Victor.”

“Shit,” Leo swears from somewhere over Yuuri’s head. Yuuri can’t help but flinch, knowing how close he still is to Yuuri’s abused neck. 

Seung-Gil is clenching his teeth together, glaring at Yuuri, then up to Leo, presumably. “We’re so close. If we-”

“No.” Leo injects. “No way. It isn’t worth it. I didn’t think it was worth it to begin with, but it definitely isn’t now.”

Are they scared of soulmates? Do they think soulmates are sacred? He knows some people think so. But those kinds of people are usually from far-off Kingdoms, not those from Pax or Prix. Maybe they’re scared of Victor? 

Oh. (Ooooh.) They’re making the same mistake Yuuri first did. The first person that comes to anyone’s mind with the name ‘Victor’ is the famous Mage. Anyone would be terrified of him. Yuuri had soon come to the conclusion it wasn’t his idol, but he hopes his captors won’t. 

Seung-Gil and Leo seem to be having a staring contest over Yuuri’s head. At least their indecision is giving him time to breathe and to think. He wonders if he should play up his soulmate’s name. If that’s what’s stopping them, maybe pretending he has a powerful Mage looking for him will force their hand. 

“You didn’t even get a hint that he knows anything about Kashi, did you?” Leo demands. 

“No, but-”

“Then this isn’t working,” Leo stops Seung-Gil. “You can’t push him any further. If none of us have come close, then why do you think the same thing will work?”

“I just need more time,” Seung-Gil snaps. 

“Time? Now that there’s  _ this _ ? No.”

“Leo…” Guang-Hong interrupts, voice still soft. “None of us are thinking rationally. Take Yuuri back to the last chamber. We’ll decide what to do together after that.”

Yuuri waits, wheezing breaths the only sound between them all. It’s obvious it’s not the ideal solution for anyone, but being back by the lake is better than being in this chair for Yuuri. 

“Fine,” Seung-Gil finally snarls, then turns on his heel and stalks off in the direction of the cave entrance. 

Guang-Hong walks up to him, handing Leo the key to the cuffs over Yuuri’s head. He bends over slightly to inspect Yuuri’s neck, his fingers brush against a tender spot and Yuuri flinches away. “It was never my intention for it to go this far,” he sounds upset. 

Yuuri doesn’t believe the act. They had him kidnapped. Tortured. They killed his friend. They’re not allowed to show remorse. He doesn’t dignify them with any kind of answer. Just waits as Leo unties his hands long enough to tie them in front of him and to the chains again, and then unlock him from the ground, the chain of the cuffs still attaching both ankles with a dismal amount of slack. 

Leo and Guang-Hong share a long, deep look before he’s guided back towards the back cave by only Leo. It takes even longer than all the other times. He’s bruised, battered, and exhausted. Not to mention he’s having trouble breathing, so even a light exercise like walking (with ankle weights) is too much. 

He wonders how long he’ll have before they realize. Before they figure out that there’s absolutely no way that Yuuri’s soulmate is Victor Nikiforov. (There are enough rumours that he killed his soulmate and is using their power that he’s surprised they didn’t completely dismiss the idea right away.) Maybe when the threat of a massively powerful Mage descending on them in vengeance is gone, they’ll let Seung-Gil have all the time he wants. 

And isn’t that the most terrifying thing Yuuri’s ever imagined. More than being alone in the cave. More than an indescribable monster waiting in the dark for him. More than never living up to his Mage title. More than disappointing his whole family. More than being alone without Phichit-. No. He can’t think about his friend right now. If he starts grieving, he won’t stop. And he still needs to get out of here somehow. 

They’re almost back in the furthest cave when Leo finally speaks. “Did you know? About your soulmate?”

Yuuri refuses to answer him. He’s not going to give them anything. Not after what they’ve done. 

“I understand why you wouldn’t say anything,” Leo sighs. “Soulmates are-”

He’s cut off as a rumbling sound occurs from deep within the cave. Yuuri immediately thinks of whatever he believed might have been out there in dark when he’d first woken up. But this time the rumble doesn’t come from magic - doesn’t disturb it, from what he can feel. No. This is something very tangible. 

Leo’s face breaks its usual passivity with a clear look of worry. “That doesn’t sound good,” he says, hand touching Yuuri’s back, as if to reassure himself. Yuuri just finches forward and away. He takes the space to spin and glare at Leo, stone floor scraping on his bare feet. “Yuuri-” Leo reaches out towards him, but Yuuri steps back once. 

This is the most in-control he’s felt in Leo’s presence. He’s not quite out of Leo’s reach, but at least Leo isn’t standing behind him ominously. The cave rumbles around them, and Yuuri can feel it vibrating up through his feet. 

Leo glances at the cave walls around them. Yuuri’s slowly stepping backwards towards the more open chamber he’s used to, but Leo’s still in the smaller passageway. 

The chain that’s dragging on the ground catches on the rough floor and Yuuri almost falls backwards. Leo moves forward to grab at his shirt to keep him upright, but then it happens. The rumble around them becomes something much more physical. A rock from the ceiling of the passageway crashes to the floor to Yuuri’s right, as does a small shower of pebbles. 

And suddenly, instead of pulling Yuuri up towards him, Leo is pushing at Yuuri’s chest hard enough to send him stumbling backwards. He falls flat on his back so hard it knocks the breath (that he already had so little of) out of him, smacks his old head wound, and slices open his elbows on the uneven ground. The passageway he was just in fills in with its own ceiling. It cuts him off from Leo’s light, and from Leo as well, in a whoosh of stale air. From the dry, gritty taste in his mouth and the crunching echoing the cavern, he knows it’s been a substantial cave-in. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Again, just wanted to remind everyone (in case you missed it in the beginning notes), Phichit is a-okay. Yuuri just took Seung-Gil’s words a little too figuratively. He’ll show up soon, I promise. I personally don’t enjoy character deaths, so I’m more than happy to tell you guys he’s out there alive and worrying about Yuuri.)
> 
> SO! We’re coming up on the end of Book 1 here, which means an end to all the sad stuff. It’s gonna be sweet stuff afterwards to make up for all of this, I promise. The worst of it should be over. All that’s left is just a daring escape!!
> 
> Next chapter should be up sometime before Christmas. I’m sure you’ll love it. (Is there any YoI character you specifically want to see in upcoming chapters? I’m willing to take bribes. ;P )


	7. Book1: SEER:FATE | Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of Book1. Book2 is going to be name Healer:Elixist, which maybe gives you a little idea what it’s going to be about. *eyebrow waggle* 
> 
> I know it’s been a bit since the last chapter, but the holidays are always a little hectic. I hope everyone’s had a fantastic start to the New Year. Here’s hoping to exciting YoI things this year!! 

He lays there, dazed. 

The rumbling stops, and so does the clacking of rocks after a moment. It's as if everything's settled aside from the last few pebbles skittering over the fallen debris. 

It's pitch black again, but Yuuri's still wary about producing light because he actually doesn't know if Leo's there with him or not. He's still holding his magic-use close to his heart. It's the one piece of agency he has left. 

"Leo?" He tries to call out, but his voice is rough and unable to produce anything much above a whisper. He feels woozy again. Probably because he's exacerbated his old head injury that wasn't fully healed, no matter how good a job Victor did on the spell. 

He tries to call out for Leo again, but receives no reply. From what he could see of the cave-in, he's pretty sure they're separated from each other. And even if they aren't, they're both stuck in this back cavern now. So maybe he can risk a little magic. 

Just like the first time he was alone and scared in this dark cave with a stunning headache, he calls on a small flame. This time, however, it's tinged with Victor's blue spell. It immediately burns easily through the ropes that he's been tied with. He catches the wandering flame in his palms, coaxing it to increase a little for a bit of light. It's still pretty small. The magic around him seems tense, almost a little afraid, like it too, was affected by the unexpected cave-in, even though Yuuri knows it can't really be affected by the physical world. 

What he can see in the meager light of the white-hot flame is there has indeed been a cave-in. And he was almost caught in it. Large boulders and slices of rock lay inches from his feet. There's no sign of Leo. And no sign of the passageway. 

He touches his chest, feeling the phantom imprint of where Leo had shoved him. He wonders if Leo's dead or not. It's possible he managed to avoid the worst of it, like Yuuri has. But it's also entirely possible that by shoving Yuuri out of the way, he caught the full impact. 

He does feel remorse. He doesn't want to. He dislikes Leo for everything he's done. But he had saved him, apparently,  _ Spirits know why _ . There's no way he's going to try to dig through the rubble to see if Leo's there or not. He doesn't have the energy or means to move such large rocks. And it does give him a reprieve. He's alone, and unless the other two are going to dig to get to him (he doubts Guang-Hong has done any dirty work like that in his life), he's got some time to figure out his next move without worrying about his captors interrupting. 

He doesn't know how much time he has, though, before air runs out. It's a large cavern. But he's pretty sure there's no alternate fresh air source in here. And he never thought he'd ever have to know what size of confined space corresponded to what amount of air time.

It's better if he moves fast, then; he has a lot to do. First things. Victor's spell for his head. The magic around him is still tense, but yields to the words in Yuuri's mouth. Even if his voice is hoarse, the spell sounds perfectly normal - most of it is a magic manipulation instead of his voice. It works, but not as effectively as last time. Apparently there's still only so much a Mage can do to heal. Yuuri has to silently thank Victor for the spell again anyway.

Oh, right. Victor. He'd cut him off earlier, but hadn't made any attempt to reconnect.  _ "Victor?" _ He thinks hard. He's glad he used the healing spell first because his head is still spinning. 

_ "Yuuri?" _ Victor voice comes in clear right away, his tone indescribable. 

_ "Victor. I'm here. I-" _

_ "You're alive." _ Victor rushes in.  _ "You're still there." _

_ "Yeah, I'm-" _

_ "I thought I'd lost you, Yuuri. Don't do that again." _ Victor sounds... angry?

_ "Kinda ran into some problems," _ Yuuri tries to dismiss it. Getting choked kind of changes priorities. Like air. Yuuri's going to never take air for granted after this. 

_ "You told me you were going to die, and then NOTHING. Yuuri, you can't do that!" _ It's obvious Victor's upset. 

He knows he should apologise, but there's more pressing issues.  _ "Victor, shut up." _ He thinks forcefully.  _ "There's been a cave-in. I'm stuck in the back chamber." _

_ "Oh." _

Oh. Is that all he's going to get?

_ "Are you okay?" _ Victor asks softly. 

_ "I don't know," _ Yuuri answers him honestly.  _ "I'm stuck here. No way to get out." _ He's surprisingly calm about possibly being entombed. He slowly gets to his feet, feeling a headrush despite how carefully he stood up. 

_ "There's always a way out," _ Victor says firmly.  _ "I'm almost there, I think. If I can work from one end and you from the other, then maybe we can-" _

_ "No," _ Yuuri is the one to cut him off this time. There's still a Witch and Seer waiting in the outer chamber. He's not going to ask Victor to go through them just to try to dig him out. He doesn't know how much more of the cave collapsed anyway, so it may be completely impossible to get to him. Assuming Victor's even in the right place. 

_ "You can't give up, Yuuri." _

_ "I'm not giving up, not yet," _ Yuuri tells him. Maybe he will in an hour once he realizes how futile it is. But not yet. He can't yet. Victor's out there waiting for him, if nothing else. He desperately wants to find out what having a 'soulmate' means. And to do that, he has to get out of here.  _ "Now, can you shut up for just a moment so I can get some light in here?" _

Victor makes a distressed sound but keeps quiet. 

He recalls one of the other spells Victor gave to him, and with a bit more effort than the first time, he forms the magic into the ball of light again. He releases it, watching as it floats up and out and splits again. It's just as gorgeous this time around, but he doesn't have time to admire it. 

It takes slow, careful steps to get back to his little ledge by the lake. He doesn't particularly need to be in that spot, really, but it feels a little bit like a safe haven right now. 

_ "Yuuri?" _ Victor asks tentatively. 

Victor has been waiting patiently, but now that Yuuri’s further into the cave, the earlier light spell, that was helpful for him to find the path, isn't centered over him.  _ "One more moment, Victor," _ Yuuri asks of him. He pulls on the last of the spells Victor gave him. The archaic water one. It gave him a good amount of light last time, and if he might have to use the water on the cuffs, then some light like that might help. 

He kneels by the water, the edges illuminated in a dusky silver by the faraway lights. He drinks as much as he possibly can to clear the taste of dust and dirt from his mouth. Then he uses the spell. It's as rough as it was the first time, and the magic still seems reluctant to follow his orders, but complies anyway. He wonders if he's actually feeling more anxious that he thinks he is. Maybe that's what the magic is feeling from him. 

The jewelled tones of the water are in stark contrast with the white and tan of the rocks around him. Some of the glowing balls of light further out slowly drift down towards the lake, touching the surface, making no ripples, but intensifying the golden glow. 

_ "Okay," _ he finally turns his attention back to Victor.  _ "Any suggestions on how to get the magic-restraints off? I'm actually able to reach the water now, seeing as I didn't get locked back to the floor." _

There’s a brief pause, then,  _ "Well, there are a few things that we might be able to try," _ Victor says, slipping right back into his fast-paced speech.  _ "I wasn't able to figure out a solution before I left because I was having some trouble working magic while chained up. But wonderful Yuuri, you don't have that problem, so maybe if we have you try a couple things I was theorizing, then one might work. Or at least we know what doesn't work, so I can go from there. It shouldn't take more than a day or so-" _

_ "A day? Or more?" _ Yuuri can't help but stop him. There's no way he's going to last that long. Yes, he has access to water, which is important, but he's been without food since he was captured. And it's not like he and Phichit were living a very lush life. He's been half-starved for a few months. It's just part of travelling the two of them have gotten used to. 

He pauses, choking on tears, thinking of how Phichit doesn't have to get used to anything anymore. Even if he escapes, he's not going to be able to find his friend and go back to life as it was. He's going to be on his own now. 

_ "Yes, at least a day, unless we somehow get it right on the first try, but that's very unlikely to happen. It's going to take a bit of work and a bit of fiddling to find out what will work best." _ Victor keeps going even while Yuuri's heart is breaking all over again. 

" _ I don't think I can manage more than a day, Victor," _ Yuuri tells him with candor.  _ "I'm weak. I don't have much energy left, let alone a lot to work for a day with magic." _

Victor's quiet on his end for a moment.  _ "Okay. Then we'll have to be very logical with what we do. And I'll find you. And I can work to get you free from my end." _

_ "Victor-" _ Yuuri is about to tell him to stop. He's not going to go down without a fight, but he also knows when he's beaten. However, before he can say anything, another rumble of the cave pulls his attention out towards the sound from the back of the lake and something further out catches his eye. The hovering lights are gathering a larger cluster out near the far end of the lake, glowing bright and warm, and illuminating the water even more than it already is. 

The gold colour that's gathered at the lake water's edges isn't completely confined to the edges like Yuuri saw the last time he did the spell. The extra light further out is allowing him to see the way the gold edges slowly bleed in tendrils to two points. One gathers into a rather large golden river that flows down to the deeper part of the lake. It's hard to miss now, standing out in contrast to the dark cobalt blue. He can't see how far it reaches, nor where it ends. 

The other end reaches towards one of the farther corners. Yuuri wishes that he didn't have the cuffs on because he wants to swim out to the golden streaks and see where they lead. Victor had said something earlier about the gold possibly showing the water's origin. Maybe that's what this is. 

_ "What was gold streaks in the water supposed to mean?" _ Yuuri asks Victor. 

_ "Huh?" _ Victor responds, confused. 

_ "The spell you gave me for the water. You said the gold showed it had magical properties. But what else did it mean?" _

_ "It can show the water's source, sometimes. Or, depending on how you translate the original text, the direction of flow. Why?" _

_ "Because there's a gold stream in the lake." _

_ "Really?" _ Victor sounds excited.  _ "Where does it lead?" _

_ "One side goes further into the lake. The other goes to the edge." _

_ "Can you follow it?" _

_ "No. I don't think I can swim with the cuffs on me. They're too heavy and I don't have the energy." _

_ "Can you walk to the edge?" _ Victor asks of him. 

_ "I suppose? Maybe?" _ Yuuri looks at the edge of the lake, trying to plot a course that won't require him to clamber over too many rocks. He might be able to do it. 

And he does. It takes quite a bit of time, and a lot of energy on his part. The cuffs restrict his movements too much for it to be easy to step over medium-sized rocks, and it’s even worse when he has to heft himself over the larger pieces. 

He's encouraged to keep going not only by the gold stream becoming much clearer and closer, but also by Victor's constant stream of chatter running through his head. Most of what Victor's telling him about doesn't make much sense (Yuuri's pretty sure he's talking about a part of his childhood where he absconded into the woods to try out some spells), but he enjoys having the constant company that keeps him from focussing on some of the darker thoughts that are swirling just below the surface, waiting for an opportune moment of weakness in Yuuri's resolve. 

When he's close enough, Yuuri can see that the gold in the lake reaches towards the edge, and then seeps up the edge towards little pools further up that are settled in the rock. There's a light flow of water trickling down into the lake, making the most minimal of disturbances to the water. But there's no doubt that it's a little stream. 

Yuuri follows the mildly gold water upwards, hoping that it might lead him to a new exit. But there's no such luck. The gold separates into hundreds of little threads and weaves into the solid rock wall. 

It takes a bit of explaining to get Victor to understand where the water's coming from (it takes the phrase 'bleeding from solid rock' for him it to sink in). 

He sits down on the edge of the lake, the rocks much more uncomfortable than the flattened stone where he was being held. He tentatively dips his feet into the lake. The water is cold, sending tingles along his skin where it touches, but it's also soothing for his bare, roughed feet. 

While the rest of his body adapts, the cuffs that are keeping his ankles tied together turn chilly quite quickly and stay that way, weighing heavily on his feet. 

He's about to ask Victor 'what now' and perhaps start trying to free himself, but the cave rumbles around him again. 

He looks around wildly, wondering if he can see where the next cave-in might occur and if there's any way he can find a safe spot to hide. 

A few rocks from the ceiling splash down noisily in the lake, disturbing the calm, glowing surface. 

He watches as they sink to the bottom. It's probably a good thirty feet deep. There's the crashing of rocks further off, probably back at the passageway where everything was unstable. 

_ "Do you have any spells for the cuffs you're pretty sure about?" _ Yuuri thinks to Victor.  _ "The cave seems pretty unstable right now." _

_ "Nothing I'm sure would work on the first try, no," _ Victor responds. 

_ "I have cuffs in the water, but it's not doing anything," _ Yuuri tells him. 

_ "No surprise there, you'll probably have to use magic on the water, not let it do the magic work for you." _

Yuuri nods, looking out into the dusky cave, watching as another few large rocks go splashing into the lake. With the cave-in he might have less time in here than he'd like. The last thing he needs is for the whole cavern to collapse inward on him. He searches for the gold magic stream in the lake, but everything is distorted because of the ripples on the surface. 

_ "Do you know any spells to breathe underwater?" _ Yuuri asks, just in case. He knows a couple, but they're only meant as a quick-fix, nothing stable or large enough to swim with. 

Victor makes an unhappy noise.  _ "No. Does that even fall under a Mage’s magic purview?"  _ he asks. 

_ "Kind of,"  _ Yuuri thinks.  _ "It would probably work better for a Witch since their element is air. Or even a Healer who might be able to draw oxygen from water." _

_ "Why are you asking anyway? Do you think there's a way out in the lake?" _

_ "Not sure, but that's the only place I haven't checked yet. Although, even if there was, I doubt it's something I could fit through. The water level seems pretty constant and it's not getting fed a lot of water." _ Yuuri considers his options as his feet soak - he doesn’t have many - and they’re growing fewer the more rocks tumble down. 

_ "We'll just keep things simple for now, Yuuri,"  _ Victor tells him.  _ "I'm not expecting you to do magic as powerful as me right now." _

Yuuri frowns. That's kind of rude to say. But he also finds it a little endearing.  _ "Will you still remember me if I don't make it out of here?" _ Yuuri can't help but ask. 

Victor's silent, and that's all the response Yuuri needs. 

The rocks around him rumble ominously again, reflecting the way he's feeling inside.  _ "I need to get out of here, Victor. I can't waste any more time." _

_ "Yuuri. Wait. Just sit and think for a moment. We can try a few things." _ Victor tries to stop him. 

But Yuuri's convinced. The cave is coming down around him, he doesn't have a clear escape route, he's only getting weaker just sitting here, and he doesn't have a sure-fire way of getting the cuffs off. It's better if he just goes for it. He's done well under pressure before. Besides. Victor's there. He has this desperate need to prove to him that he's not just the damsel in distress he's been portraying the past couple days. 

He doesn't think he'll have much time when he tries to swim, but, looking a little further out from where he is, it looks like there are some strategically placed stromatolites that he can use as stepping stones to get out towards the deeper part of the lake, near to where he remembers the gold light flowing. And it also looks like some of the stromatolites are submerged and could make for a useful little platform to dive off from. It will at least give his feet some rest before he tries to swim. The cuffs are already dragging his feet down enough they feel tired just hanging in the water. 

So, ignoring Victor still nattering away, trying to tell him the order in which he should be doing things, he heaves himself back up and over to the stepping stones. They're just close enough that the chain will allow him to stretch between them. He makes it almost all the way out into the lake, water up to his ankles, before it drops off. 

_ "If you don't hear from me, Victor,"  _ Yuuri interrupts Victor's rant about only pushing yourself when it's needed,  _ "I'm sorry." _

_ "Wait. Yuuri," _ he tries to protest. 

_ "I know you believe in soulmates, and I'm sorry that I told you they weren't real. You... you really have meant a lot to me. I didn't think anyone would be willing to put up with me at my worst." _

_ "Yuuri, that's when you need someone the most. I wouldn't abandon you at your worst. So please, don't abandon me when I-" _

_ "Victor, please,"  _ Yuuri cuts him off.  _ "I get it. I do. I'm sorry if I'm ruining your lifelong dream of having a soulmate. You made me hope, dream, that they might be real. I don't want to ruin your fantasy. So I'll do my best to get out alive." _

_ "Yuuri, stop," _ Victor's voice seems to break.  _ "just wait for me. I'm here, I swear, I'm sure I know where you are. If you just wait-" _

But the cave rumbles again, sending a cascade of rock down near the original cave-in. Many of the magical lights Yuuri conjured are covered and the cave darkens significantly. 

Yuuri looks down into the glowing water. No time to waste, is there? He's sure he can see some of the gold against the jewel-toned blue. He'll just follow it. See where it goes. 

_ "Wait, Yuuri, I think I-" _

But Yuuri hops down onto the small platform hidden under the surface, the water splashing up to his ears, distracting him from whatever Victor says. He's at least tall enough that the water swirls around his chin if he's standing flat footed. He looks down into the water again. Nothing for it.  _ “I need a moment, Victor,” _ he lets him know, and Victor quiets again with some grumbling. 

He dives down, ignoring the prickling cold. It's easy to dive to the bottom - the heavy chains pull him down quickly. Even in the water, he can still feel the cave rumble around him. The water, although fresh, stings his eyes, and he blinks against the burn. This deep he can now clearly see the golden path. It weaves downwards, swirling as Yuuri churns the water around him. 

The golden water lazily spirals past his face and down towards some a space between some bigger boulders. He pushes against the bigger rocks, but they don’t budge at all. Unlike up at the little stream, the gold light swirls into the space between the rocks instead of into the porous stone. And if he places his hand against the spot he can feel a light suction and the gold water pools against the back of his hand, as if he’s blocking its path. 

His lungs burn with the need for air, so he pushes off the bottom of the lake, propelling himself upwards. It’s hard with the chains dragging him down, so he kicks his legs as hard as he can. He’s able to grasp the edge of the submerged platform with his fingertips before he feels like he can’t kick anymore, and uses the last of his energy to climb onto it and stand so his head breaks the water. 

He gasps for air. His legs shaking with exhaustion, so he knows he’ll probably only have one dive left in him. It seems like the water exits the lake down there. Maybe, if he could figure out a way to get through those rocks, they might actually lead somewhere. Somewhere not in the cave. Of course, that’s just wishful thinking. He’s already fairly far below the surface and the lake leads downwards. It would be more likely it leads to an even deeper cave. But for some reason, he feels good about it, never mind it’s the only decent option he has left. 

_ “Yuuri?” _ Victor’s voice comes again, hesitant, but excited. 

_ “Victor,” _ Yuuri responds, thankful yet again he doesn’t actually have to use his voice to communicate. He’s breathing heavily, water splashing in front of his mouth and up into his face. He pushes his hair back and out of his eyes, glancing around at the cave. It looks like even more rock has fallen. 

_ “I see gold,”  _ Victor sounds giddy.

_ “Gold?” _ Yuuri tips his head back so he won’t breathe in water. 

_ “Gold. In the water. YUURI,” _ he’s never heard anyone sound so excited before,  _ “GOLD.” _

_ “That’s great?” _ He’s a little upset that a precious metal is getting more attention than his situation is, but he supposes each person has their weakness. 

_ “It’s your spell, Yuuri, I’m sure of it.” _

Wait. When Victor said ‘gold’, he meant, gold light. Like the gold light he’s been following. Like the gold that’s seeping out between the boulders at the bottom of the lake.  _ “Are you sure?” _ Yuuri blinks 

_ “It’s faint, but I’m sure,” _ Victor says with conviction.  _ “I can feel the magic. Yuuri, you’re close.” _

His heart is thundering in his chest and it’s not just because of the swim he took. Victor is here to save him. His soulmate found him.  _ “Where are you?” _ Yuuri asks. He has to know how close he is. They can’t be separated by much, can they? But water moves fast, and he cast the spell a while ago. Victor could still be miles away. 

_ “I’m at a river. I don’t see anything that looks like a cave, though. But I’m headed upstream now, I promise.” _

But the promise doesn’t help Yuuri when the cavern rumbles low and loud, a couple stalactites snapping from the ceiling and plummeting down like spears into the water. He doesn’t have time to wait for Victor to find the cave entrance, fight his captors, and then try to move all the rubble separating them. No. Yuuri needs to do this. 

_ “I’ll come to you,” _ Yuuri tells him. 

_ “No. Just wait,” _ Victor tries to protest again. But he’s just a voice in Yuuri’s head. He can’t do anything to physically stop him. 

_ “Don’t worry, Victor. I know what I’m doing.” _

_ “If you die, I won’t forgive you.” _

_ “Good,” _ he replies, then cuts off the connection between them. There isn’t anything Victor can do for him now. He’ll either see him soon, or he won’t. Simple.

He wracks his brain to recall all the spells he’s going to need. The air bubble he’ll produce won’t last more than a minute, he’s sure, and at least half of its air will go towards saying the spell to break the rocks. He’d do break them while up here, but he needs to physically touch them. 

It’s a difficult magic. All magic is much more suited to producing something from nothing. Destroying what’s already there goes against magic’s flow, almost like swimming upstream (isn’t that a fitting metaphor right now). It requires concentration, perfect pronunciation, and a lot of effort. He’s used the spell before. On a centuries-old man-made stone wall out in the middle of a field as practice. He doesn’t know how effective it will be on millennia-old rock formations. The one time he tried, he passed out. Phichit had been there to give him a healing draught from his pack. 

This time, there’s no Phichit. And there’s nothing to save him from drowning if he passes out. He tries to tell himself that it was five years past he last used the spell and he’s certainly more powerful than he was back then. But he’s much weaker after the past few days than he was then as well. 

He pushes away the part of his brain that’s freaking out (he’s freaking out over a lot of things, okay? Drowning is only one of them) and sets his shoulders. Into battle, then. 

The air bubble he produces in his hands is actually far larger than he thought it would be. The magic seems to be flowing around him. Maybe it’s being helped by the magical properties of the water too. He repeats the spell to break rock over and over, making sure he has it down perfectly and will be able to say it without hesitation. There’s no room for hesitation here. He only hopes the air bubble won’t provide an unnecessary barrier between his spell and the magic he’ll gather in his fingertips. 

He watches more rock crumble at the far side of the pool. No hesitation. None. He takes as deep a breath as possible and dives down again, air bubble squeezed between two hands.  _ Once more unto the breach. _ He thinks. This time there isn’t an answer from Victor. 

The water doesn’t even feel cold anymore, he’s become used to it, although it has made his joints stiff. Once again, he’s helped to the bottom of the lake by the chains. He stands at the bottom of the lake surrounded by blue and gold water and looks up for one last glimpse of the dancing lights he produced and the spiked ceiling. He cuts off the magic to those lights. Above him goes dark and he’s left suspended in a pool of light. Focusing, he places his hand where the inky gold parts of the water are congregating at the seam of the rocks. He lets out the breath he has in his lungs, and then shoves the air bubble on his head. He pulls in just enough air to use for the spell, and the bubble shrinks. 

The spell is hard and fast. Nothing like the ones Victor has given him. It’s raw, feels strange in his mouth. The magic in the water and around him doesn’t seem to appreciate it, and follows with reluctance to his hand. But the roughness of the spell gives it power. Gives  _ him _ power. It agitates the magic. Makes it angry and fearsome. 

Magic constructs with ease when its neutral or pacified. But angry. It hurts. Destroys. 

The last of the spell releases all the energy. The rocks implodes. Ceases to exist. Destroyed beyond any doubt. And suddenly the water and Yuuri are rushing to fill the space it just occupied. He gasps with a surprised grunt at the force of the pull, using air he wasn’t meaning too. 

But he doesn’t stop. He keeps getting forced along. The glowing water pulling him forward, tugging him roughly. Pressing hard in around him until he doesn’t think he could breathe if he wanted too. 

He knows he’s losing consciousness when the water around him flickers black. The magic he used to light the water is being cut off from him. It’s all black. Dark, wet, suffocating. And then it’s  _ dark. _

He thinks he flutters into consciousness as he is spewed from the earth into bright sunlight, but he slips right back into unconsciousness again. 

And then he’s back, gulping water into his lungs. He retches, but everything is water. It’s water all around him. But there’s sunlight. He’s escaped. Even though he’s terrified he’s going to drown, he still has a passing thought that he might be upset about destroying that lovely, beautiful lake and cavern. It will probably never be the same again. And then his fight or flight response kicks in and he’s struggling to get to the surface. 

But the chains are still thick and heavy around his ankles. Just as always: he excels at something only to fail at the end. 

Except this time, there are hands reaching down to him, roughly grabbing at his wrist and pulling. 

He’s dragged to the surface, sputtering and gasping, and so very alive, and coughing, and spitting out water, and  _ breathing _ . It’s the same feeling as when he first awoke in the cave - like he’s surfacing from a deep, dark lake. Things come back in flashes. He’s conscious, but so unaware. 

“Yuuri!” A voice calls. Victor. Yuuri thought he cut off their connection back in the cave. Yet, this is different. The voice is real. It’s coming from his right side, not in his head. 

The arms wrap around his chest, turning him so he can cough out more water onto the riverbank. And when he can finally breathe, he turns, rolling into the lap of his saviour. 

Above him swims warm, jewelled eyes. The same colours of the lake he was just in - azure and teal. Except they’re filled with so much more than water, rock, and magic. They’re brimming with emotion. 

“Yuuri,” the person croons. 

“Victor,” he rasps out. It’s Victor. He knows it is. 

He blinks up at the man, his mind finally allowing him to focus on something other than drowning. Victor’s eyes are surrounded by pale, flawless skin, cute sloping nose, wide mouth and plush lips, all framed by silver hair and a halo of gold where the sun above him catches the edges and makes it glow. 

He recognizes the face. 

His captors were apparently were right to be worried. Maybe Guang-Hong is a good Seer. Because they knew. Even when Yuuri laughed it off and dismissed the possibility entirely. 

“You’re here,” Victor says, awed. “I have you.”

“Victor-” Yuuri chokes out, voice still quiet and hoarse from the abuse it’s taken. 

“I’m not letting you go, now that I have you. There’s no way,” Victor says, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s forehead. 

Yuuri can only gape up at him, mouth open. He’s just been kissed by Victor. The only Victor he’s ever cared about. The one man he’d thought about constantly. The one man who’d pushed him to become the Mage he is today. The one man he’s admired for years. Loved, even.

Victor Nikiforov.  _ Soulmates _ indeed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. So. Finally Yuuri knows. I’m so excited for him to finally be free. And for the two of them to be together. I think next chapter we’ll start up with Victor again - get a little bit about what he went through. And what he thinks of Yuuri now that he has him in his arms. 
> 
> Thanks for all the wonderful, positive response I got. I know last chapter was really tough, so I’m so glad you’re all sticking with it. I promise to get in some more fluffy stuff with the two of them to make up for everything.
> 
> And if you didn’t catch my little holiday one-shot, Chase Away the Chill, check it out [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095277). 


End file.
